Here words can kill - literally.

"What is the greatest mistake a parent can make?" she asked. "To believe that your children will be just like you."

I am a great believer that all the primary research has to be done before principle writing begins. I'm a huge advocate of plotting.

Great change always comes down to the actions of a single person.

I was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland and it is still home to me. My writing has taken me all over the world, but this is the place I come back to and the place where I find it easiest to write.

Books are just dead words on paper and it is the readers who bring the stories alive. Previously, writers wrote a book and sent it out into the world. A couple of months after publication letters from readers might arrive. And, leaving aside the professional reviews, it is really the reader's opinions that the writer needs. They vote for a book - and a writer - with their hard earned cash every time they go into a bookstore (or online - that's my age showing!) and buy a book.

Once you have been touched by magic, you are forever changed. You leave a trail.