History is written by the victors, the strongest, the most determined. Truth is found most often in the silence, in the quiet places.

I read a lot of thrillers, especially American crime novels.

I really like people and I keep friendships. I have people from all parts of my life.

One cannot always marry the person one loves.

The dead leave their shadows, an echo of the space within which once they lived. They haunt us, never fading or growing older as we do. The loss we grieve is not just their futures but our own.

Library campaigners are not prepared to stand by and watch something they cherish be dismantled brick by brick.

All prizes have a role, if they are run with integrity and with a clear focus on reading and quality writing. I don't think any of them is necessary, but they all play an incredibly important role in building a body of literature, in introducing new authors to new readers, and extending reading.