All that happens is that the destruction of human beings - unless they're Americans - is called collateral damage.

It's so easy for propaganda to work, and dissent to be mocked.

I could be a bit of a pain in the arse. Since I've come out of my cancer, I must say I intend to be even more of a pain in the arse.

As a writer you're holding a dog. You let the dog run about. But you finally can pull him back. Finally, I'm in control. But the great excitement is to see what happens if you let the whole thing go. And the dog or the character really runs about, bites everyone in sight, jumps up trees, falls into lakes, gets wet, and you let that happen. That's the excitement of writing plays-to allow the thing to be free but still hold the final leash.

Apart from the known and the unknown, what else is there?

I was brought up in the War. I was an adolescent in the Second World War. And I did witness in London a great deal of the Blitz.

I don't give a damn what other people think. It's entirely their own business. I'm not writing for other people.