I have two children. They are more fun than anything in the world, and it's more immediate fun than the hard slog of writing.

Even if people do wrong, we're social animals, so what can we do about stopping them doing the same things in future? Saying people are 'bad' or 'evil' is just an unwillingness to engage; an unwillingness to try to empathise. That sanctimonious attitude doesn't help anyone

A man who thinks he has a higher purpose can do terrible things, even to those he professes to love.

None of us know what is going to sell or what people want to read.

To have a very strong opinion all the time is corrosive to a person's intellect. It becomes your default position.

I'm terrified to get married. I'm not getting married till my gay friends can.

If you went for a job interview in a Glasgow law firm, they used to ask you what school you went to. And that was a way of finding out what religion you were.