All writers are liars. They twist events to suit themselves. They make use of their own tragedies to make a better story... They are terrible people.

I like writing for children. It seems to me that most people underestimate their understanding and the strength of their feelings and in my books for them I try to put this right.

The kind of response I hope for when I write my novels for children: to give them a chance to recognize something of their own feelings -- about themselves, their parents, their friends -- and their own situation as a kind of subject race, always at the mercy of the adults who mostly run their lives for them.

People who don't read seem to me mysterious. I don't know how they think or learn about other people. Novels are a very important part of our education.

Adults get more confused by social worker jargon. Unlike children, they are also less likely to see two sides of an argument, and they no longer think they can make the world a better place. That can make them rather boring, I suppose.

I like stirring the pot - I think it's part of my duty, to shake people up a bit - make them look at things in a different way.

I've never found it made the slightest difference being a woman - though there is a sort of feeling that as you get older you're not so interesting.