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.

There’s only one difference between published and unpublished writers, and it is this -- the first group see their work in print on the shelves of Waterstone’s or Tesco or online at Amazon; the second group are yet to have physical evidence of the hours, weeks, years spent fashioning words into their patterns. You are already a writer.

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

Actually, I can write anywhere - airport lounges, in bed, on a rattling train going north.

We are who we are, be­cause of those we choose to love and be­cause of those who love us.

Do you believe you can change your destiny?' he (Sajhë) said, seeking an answer. Alice found herself nodding. 'Otherwise, what's the point? If we are simply walking a path preordained, then all the experiences that make us who we are - love, grief, joy, learning, changing - would count for nothing.

Usually I decide on what it is I'm writing next by the books I'm reading.