Something I notice speaking to writers from south of Hadrians Wall is that the culture is different. At base, I think Scotland values its creative industries differently from England.

Writers of novels live in a strange world where what's made up is as important as what's real.

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

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

It is one of the benchmarks of a culture I always think – the page at which it operates. A good way to measure it is to order a taxi and see how irate local people get if it is late.

We can learn so much looking outside our core field of expertise.

I'm a library user and I just don't hoard books. To me, they're for sharing.