Everybody sins, Francis. The terrible thing is that we love our sins. We love the thing that makes us evil.

They don't actually want you to do your own thing, not unless it's their thing too.

There is very little that is accidental in my work. I believe in serendipity for developments of plot, but the actual writing is arrived at by very hard work. The joy of writing doesn't mean that you don't get the backaches and headaches and the days when it's not coming.

A writer must take risks, defy the odds, be a bit obsessed and a little mad.

Don't miss the bus, boy. You're missing a lot of things in the world, better not miss that bus.

My dream was to be known as a writer and to be able to produce at least one book that would be read by people. That dream came true with the publication of my first novel - and all the rest has been a sweet bonus.

I take real people and put them in extraordinary situations.