Watch where you leave your victims! I stubbed my toe on that.

The important thing about any book is that you have to have a good story and that it has to be exciting. Then it's nice to add other levels underneath that people can pick up on.

A typical master. Right to the end, he didn’t give me a chance to get a word in edgeways. Which is a pity, because at that last moment I’d have liked to tell him what I thought of him. Mind you, since in that split second we were, to all intents and purposes, one and the same, I rather think he knew anyway.

When I was young, I kept a diary for about 10 years and I had to write in it every day. Even on days when nothing seemed to happen, I made myself think of something to put in it.

One magician demanded I show him an image of the love of his life. I rustled up a mirror.

Getting that first draft out is a horribly hard grind, but that (perversely) is where the joy of it lies.

I rather think he knew anyway.