I have a huge music library and deliberately choose the piece of music to match the piece I'm writing. So, every book I write has its own "soundtrack."

Ah. In my experience, when people say they don't know whether they love someone, they usually mean no.

And in their rush to create wonders, they have ignored the wonders all around them, ignored the mysteries, the beauty.

For me, the favourite chapters have always been the last chapters in the books. I knew exactly how each book would end - and how the first chapter of the following book would begin. I knew I wanted to leave the readers with answers - and a bunch of new questions!

Some writing courses will advise you to write what you know. I've always thought this is very odd advice ... because it means, for example, that I should not be writing about Nicholas Flamel, because I didn't live in France in the 15th Century, I was not an alchemyst, am not immortal (despite the rumours) and do not know magic.

I never avoid something that challenges my guts and my heart. While I might occasionally puke my guts out, I have never puked my heart out.

You don't call retarded people retards. It's bad taste. You call your friends retards when they are acting retarded.