Grabbing readers by the imagination is a writer's job.

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

I've always had a keen sense of history. My father was an antiques dealer and he used to bring home boxes full of treasures, and each item always had a tale attached.

I always thought that bagels and lox was my soul food, but it turns out it's sushi.

For me, writing stories set, well, wherever they're best set, is a form of cultural curiosity that is uniquely Scottish - we're famous for travelling in search of adventure.

I had loved poetry and the theatre. Now I loved adventure more.

Writers are a product of where we come from but by looking at alternatives to the culture in which we live, we can find ways to change and hopefully improve it.