I write fiction. I make things up, it's what I do.

But try as I might, I never got to eat any of her pastries, and do you know, she never even offered me one.

If I learned anything in this life, I've learned that you can't cling on.

Admitting failure is quite cleansing, but never - pleasurable.

Our great problem, is that children now know whatever they want to know - at the press of a button they can discover all horrors of the adult world. They know very early on that the world is sometimes a very dark, difficult and complex place, and the literature they read must reflect that. Otherwise we're just entertaining them to pass the time.

There's room for all sorts of magic and miracles in this world - that's what I think.

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