In general, I think, less is more, and that if a reader stops reading because a book is too icky then I've failed in my obligation to the readers.

The best way to learn about writing is to study the work of other writers you admire.

I write pretty much anywhere - on planes, in hotel rooms, anywhere in my house.

I've worked for law firms, I've worked for corporations, and for the past 20 years, I've been writing working for myself, and believe me it's a lot better. That's a big part of the James Bond panache, that you're responsible, 100 percent responsible, for the success or failure of your mission in life, whatever it is.

Generally my typical books have lots of twists and turns a big surprise ending and then usually another surprise at the end and ideally, as in Garden of Beasts, we get to the very end and we find at the last few pages that there's yet another surprise.

I think a lot of young aspiring writers get misdirected; they think 'I ought to write this, even though I enjoy reading that'. What you have to do is write what you enjoy reading.

If you have a craftsman's command of the language and basic writing techniques you'll be able to write - as long as you know what you want to say