Any story you write about war, or film you make about war, is bound to be political whether you like it or not.

Wherever my story takes me, however dark and difficult the theme, there is always some hope and redemption, not because readers like happy endings, but because I am an optimist at heart. I know the sun will rise in the morning, that there is a light at the end of every tunnel.

Admitting failure is quite cleansing, but never - pleasurable.

Everyone is interested in war, in that people don't want it to happen. I'm much more interested in peace than in war but it's important to understand why we fight.

Blind terror drove me on, with my flying stirrups whipping me into a frenzy. With no rider to carry I reached the kneeling riflemen first and they scattered as I came upon them.

I don't want to be separate from something that's important to me.

Animals are sentient, intelligent, perceptive, funny and entertaining. We owe them a duty of care as we do to children.