I have been aware, from the age of 6, that I had talent.

A bad act done will fester and create in its own way. It's not only goodness that creates. Bad things create. They have their own yeast.

I haven't had a single moment of terror since they told me [I was dying]. My only regret is to die four pages too soon. If I can finish, then I'm quite happy to go.

Politics is still crucially important. Our choices are vital, and we've got to make them and not just say, 'Oh they're all the same.' They are all the same in certain ways, alas - a political animal is such an animal.

God, I'm such a lazy writer - I can't even think up new names.

The thing about imagination is that by the very act of putting it down, there must be some truth in one's own imagination.

Metaphor is embodied in language.