She'd tried her hand at most things, but drew the line at honesty.

It's great meeting children because you never know what they will say.

I'm going to sound like an old man but at my age, it's lovely doing something that you've never done before.

I wasn't even aware of the Year of the Family. I couldn't give a toss. These things - the year of the family, the year of the three-legged dog. I think it's all trash.

It's hard for me to measure them, or to assess my books because I'm so close to them.

I tend to plan as I write. And I want to leave myself open and the character open to keep on going until it seems to be the time to stop.

The Irish are the niggers of Europe, lads.