I get asked to read new works a lot, in the hope that I will give a quotation and I will only give a 'puff' for a book I truly love.

There are people who can achieve huge success in life, while adding a bit of fun and a splash of colour to this increasingly grey world.

Obviously I don't have whatever it is you need to be a successful writer.

Life's not some slot machine in an arcade with a sign that flashes up saying 'I'm sorry, you have been killed. Would you like another go?' But we might get put through the same test each time, get faced with the same situations until we've learned how to cope.

Almost every officer is going to put their life on the line at some point in their career.

There are an awful lot of readers who won't pick up a book if they think it's got anything horrific in it, or paranormal or whatever.

I've always been much more scared of the living than I am of the dead.