Lawrence Millman is a favorite writer of mine. He did a travels on the trail of the Vikings.

I slightly feel, having written Paraguay and Newfoundland - and both of them have developed eccentricities through isolation - I am quite relieved to be back in France and Germany, and I want people to enjoy these books for the writing and not because they feel they can laugh - some will laugh - at these eccentric places, that's not what I intend.

Lawrence Millman is a favorite writer of mine. He did a travels on the trail of the Vikings.

I find the public reaction to writing - it's fascinating in this modern age. Of course people are able to interact with me and email me, and I get quite a few I suppose.

I have dipped into Ian McEwan and so on. I tend not to stick with one writer. But I dip in here and there.

A lot of books are sold and given away as presents. But who actually reads and enjoy reading?

If you travel in countries like Morocco, and I say that because I have just come from Morocco, if people are shouting at each other in an argument, violence is not going to follow. That would be just so far removed.