And it's best if you know a good thing is going to happen, like an eclipse or getting a microscope for Christmas. And it's bad if you know a bad thing is going to happen, like having a filling or going to France. But I think it is worst if you don't know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing which is going to happen.

..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.

I am really interested in eccentric minds. It's rather like being fascinated by how cars work. It's really boring if your car works all the time. But as soon as something happens, you get the bonnet up. If someone has an abnormal or dysfunctional state of mind, you get the bonnet up.

But I said that you could still want something that is very unlikely to happen.

If one book's done this well, you want to write another one that does just as well. There's that horror of the second novel that doesn't match up.

I knew there was a story; once you find a dog with a fork through it, you know there's a story there.

From a good book, I want to be taken to the very edge. I want a glimpse into that outer darkness.