I don't plot the books out ahead of time, I don't plan them. I don't begin at the beginning and end at the end. I don't work with an outline and I don't work in a straight line.

There was a feeling, not sudden, but complete, as though I had been given a small object to hold unseen in my hands. Precious as opal, smooth as jade, weighty as a river stone, more fragile than a bird's egg. Infinitely still, live as the root of Creation. Not a gift, but a trust. Fiercely to cherish, softly to guard. The words spoke themselves and disappeared into the groined shadows of the roof.

Highlanders make the truest friends-if only because they make the worst enemies.

And Finally I put down the last and the best advice I knew, on growing older. 'Stand up straight and try not to get fat.

Conflict and character are the heart of good fiction, and good mystery has both of those in spades.

So remember it, lad. If your head thinks up mischief, your backside's going to pay for it. Brian Fraser to young Jamie

If I die before I say 'I love you' it's because I didn't have the time.