That doesn't matter. If it speaks to them and they get something positive from it, it's great.

Whatever is going on in your life when you're writing has to somehow seep into your work.

We have a female prime minister [Theresa May] here in the UK. I actually really like her and think she's wonderful. I think it's the best thing that's happened to us in a long time.

The only person with you all your life is you. Your parents die. Things inside you die — illusions, gushes of personality. Only you can sort yourself out. Yourself may not be all you need, but it’s all you’ve got.

It's not that I don't like American pop; I'm a huge admirer of it, but I think my roots came from a very English and Irish base. Is it all sort of totally non-American sounding.

The more I think about sex, the better it gets!

I just try to put myself in the sense of being a character, sometimes male. I suppose I just like the idea of trying to be different people coming from all kinds of different angles. Most of it was just from my imagination.