I fill up the well of stories in my head - without ever knowing I'm doing it.

I got married young, far too young, but it is fine. We are still married 48 years later. I got married at 19.

cause when there's life there's still hope

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.

Any story that gets us thinking, and particularly young people, thinking why? Whether it's as a result of reading the book, or coming out of the theatre or the cinema, I think we should just simply be asking the question 'why'? Why did it happen to those people? Was it necessary? And anything that gets us thinking like that is really important.

Read a lot - poems, prose, stories, newspapers, anything. Read books and poems that you think you will like and some that you think might not be for you. You might be surprised.

Children have to be motivated to want to learn to read. Reading must not be taught simply as a school exercise.