I care about a lot of issues. I care about libraries, I care about healthcare, I care about homelessness and unemployment. I care about net neutrality and the steady erosion of our liberties both online and off. I care about the rich/poor divide and the rise of corporate business.

At the end of the day, that's what a family is - a group of different people who accept each other.

Everyone assumes writers spend their time lounging around, writing and occasionally striking a pose whilst having a think.

The law don't like jazz clubs. No one wants anything to do with that kind of trouble.

Research material can turn up anywhere - in a dusty old letter in an archive, a journal or some old photographs you find in a charity shop.

Books have a vital place in our culture. They are the source of ideas, of stories that engage and stretch the imagination and most importantly, inspire.

Books exist for me not as physical entities with pages and binding, but in the province of my mind.