From a very young age my mother persuaded me that I could write for fun, but I had to have a proper job - very good advice.

Sometimes survival is the worst alternative there is

You don't write because someone sets assignments! You write because you need to write, or because you hope someone will listen or because writing will mend something broken inside you or bring something back to life.

My heroes and heroines are often unlikely people who are dragged into situations without meaning to become involved, or people with a past that has never quite left them. They are often isolated, introspective people, often confrontational or anarchic in some way, often damaged or secretly unhappy or incomplete.

Clones fit in. Freaks stand out. Ask me which one I prefer.

People reveal so much of their mental processes online, simply because the psychological effect of anonymity just means that a whole raft of inhibitions are left alone when people log on.

Anything based on ancient texts is difficult for a modern reader to get their head around.