What I love about the thriller form is that it makes you write a story. You can't get lost in your own genius, which is a dangerous place for writers. You don't want to ever get complacent. If a book starts going too well, I usually know there's a problem. I need to struggle. I need that self-doubt. I need to think it's not the best thing ever.

There is the old catch-22 line that a mentally unstable person can't know, as per their illness, that they are unstable. But that was wrong. You can and do have the insight to see your own crazy.

I would never write a memoir, because it would be too boring.

The actual writing time is a lot shorter than the thinking time.

I love to make even villains people you can relate to. When you find out who did it, I think you almost like the person, which is not easy to do.

Hope is cruel. Hope reminds me of what almost was. Hope makes the physical ache return.

I don't find any real rivalries with crime and thriller writers anyway. That might sound a little Pollyanna, but for the most part the writers I compete with, if you want to use that word, it's a pretty friendly rivalry. I think we all realise that the boat rises and sinks together.