What the short story needs above all is for one of the big publishers to get an equivalent series up and running and to support it and promote it.

I have no patience with up-themselves authors who complain about having to trail round a few bookshops signing stock.

I am interested in power and in the idea of one country exerting power over another. The Soviets took this to an extreme.

I always have lots of zany ideas for promotional stuff as publication nears.

I'm not trying to write cinematic novels, but I have been told several times that my style is cinematic.

I only like naturalistic stories. I love short, fantastic stories that cast a spell over the reader, that transport you instantly to another place with another set of rules, somewhere imagined by someone else.

Who was it recently invented some machine that will enable her to sign a book from 5,000 miles away? Margaret Atwood. Get off your arse, love, and sign it in person. Publishers and circumstance made you a bestselling author. Give a little back.