I've got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don't want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I'd rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, before 'thin'. And frankly, I'd rather they didn't give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons. Let them never be Stupid Girls.

It's best to know what the enemy are saying.

I will carry on writing, to be sure. But I don't know if I would want to publish again after Harry Potter.

What would come, would come...and you would have to meet it, when it did.

Read a lot. Reading really helps. Read anything you can get your hands on.

Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.

I just wish I’d asked you sooner. We could’ve had ages . . . months . . . years maybe. . . .