Until the Eighties, Oslo was a rather boring town, but it's changed a lot, and is now much more cosmopolitan. If I go downtown, I visit the harbour to see the tall ships and the ferries, and to admire the modern architecture such as the Opera House or the new Astrup Fearnley Museum on the water's edge.

I wasn't that into crime novels at all, but a friend introduced me to the work of Jim Thompson - I loved all his books.

When I finish a book, I'm so exhausted that I'm sort of letting myself think that this could be the end.

Thanks to the success of Henning Mankell and Peter Hoeg, there wasn't the same stigma attached to writing genre thrillers in Scandinavia as there was in many other cultures. Quite the opposite, in fact.

It was a sudden inspiration. But inspiration never came without a reason.

Let me say here and now that faith has never done me any good, only doubt. So that is what has become my testament.

In most sports, your brain and your body will cooperate... But in rock climbing, it is the other way around. Your brain doesn't see the point in climbing upwards. Your brain will tell you to keep as low as possible, to cling to the wall and not get any higher. You have to have your brain persuading your body to do the right movements.