Without a pen in my hand I can't think.

Remember Graham Green's dictum that childhood is the bank balance of the writer? I think that all writers feel alienated. Most of us go back to an alienated childhood in some way or another. I know that I do.

I've always had difficulties with female characters.

You can't make war against terror. Terror is a technique of battle. It's a tactic that has been employed since time immemorial. You can conduct clandestine action against terrorists, and that must be done.

In the hands of politicians grand designs achieve nothing but new forms of the old misery.

During the Cold War, we lived in coded times when it wasn't easy and there were shades of grey and ambiguity.

Writing is like walking in a deserted street. Out of the dust in the street you make a mud pie.