I have been called a nun with a switchblade where my privacy is concerned. I think there's a point where one says, that's for family, that's for me.

I am a liberated woman. And I do believe if a woman does equal work she should be paid equal money. But personally I am feminine and I do like male authority to lean on.

So many things that you can ask children hopefully pique their interest and they can design and think for themselves. Having children draw and illustrate what they saw in their minds' eyes during the story is a tremendous teaching aid.

You always do that with movie musicals. You prerecord and then you lip-synch to playback.

I am very proud to be British. I'm very conscious of carrying my country with me wherever I go. I feel I need to represent it well.

If the director says you can do better, particularly in a love scene, then it is rather embarrassing.

These days, people like me who are in the arts are perceived as celebrity writers. That really makes me angry because I expend a great deal of effort and spend an enormous amount of time on my books. And I've been writing now for 35 years.