Sometimes adults seem as though they have cut a chord from being a child.

I wouldn't go out of my way to experience the indignity of middle-age just because it might be good meat for a story.

I don't work to any commissions. I do what I want to do.

I've been asked why does Ireland produce so many great musicians, and the answer is it doesn't. When you count the great musicians Ireland has given the world in the last 20 years, you can do it on one hand.

I write short stories when a little idea occurs to me, that I know isn't a part of a novel that will stand by itself and should be concentrated.

Do not place a photograph of your favourite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.

When I was growing up, the exam system didn't allow you to write fiction, so you never did.