Because I work quite slowly, I have to keep myself interested over a long research and writing period. So I can't see myself writing about modern middle-class Londoners anytime soon.

If writers stuck to firsthand experience, novels would be pretty limited.

Initially I only decided to try and write a novel because I wasn't getting enough screenwriting work. It wasn't a long-held ambition, and certainly the idea came first.

Because I work quite slowly, I have to keep myself interested over a long research and writing period. So I can't see myself writing about modern middle-class Londoners anytime soon.

I suppose the short chapters and differing narrative points of view are quite "cinematic" devices, which came very naturally to me.

I don't think I could write about someone I didn't feel some sympathy for.

I despise this weakness in myself - this endless one-sided conversation that takes the place of action.