I don't mean that literary fiction is better than genre fiction, On the contrary; novels can perform two functions and most perform only one.

The most difficult book I wrote was the fourth in a series of linked children's books. It was like pulling teeth because the publisher wanted exactly the same but completely different. I'd much rather just do something completely different even if there's a risk of it going wrong.

Many childrens writers dont have children of their own

People say that you always have to tell the truth. But they do not mean this because you are not allowed to tell old people that they are old and you are not allowed to tell people if they smell funny or if a grown-up has made a fart. And you are not allowed to say, 'I don't like you,' unless that person has been horrible to you.

You make a film you feel is as real as possible and hope people react as though it were real.

..because when we look up into the sky at night there will be no darkness, just the blazing light of billions and billions of stars, all falling.

...and I went into the garden and lay down and looked at the stars in the sky and made myself negligible.