As an arts journalist in London, working mainly for the BBC, I interviewed hundreds if not thousands of authors. From them I gleaned a great deal of passing instruction in writing and I observed one fascinating detail: no two writers approach their work - physically - in the same way.

Do you know what the difference is between Friendship and Love? Friendship is the photograph, Love is the oil painting.

I believe the world of the spirit is in general greatly neglected and not at all served by the practice of faith as we know it, because religion isn't individual enough.

For a startling period of my life, I reported the Troubles in Ireland for the BBC. I lived in Dublin and was called out to all sorts of incidents that, if taken together, add up to a war - bombings, assassinations, riots, shootings, robberies, jailbreaks, kidnappings, and sieges.

I'd have to struggle to find a subject in which I can't get some kind of interested pulse started.

Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.

I never met a librarian worth his or her salt who didn't perceive my passion for books.