Sheep are stupid, and have to be driven. But goats are intelligent, and need to be led.

There are some things that are more appropriate to a children's than an adult book but there's a huge overlapping area and most kids read an age group up anyway.

If you get the characters right you've done sometimes nearly half the work. I sometimes find I get the characters right then the characters will often help me write the book - not what they look like that's not very important - what people look like is not about their character. You have to describe the shape they leave in the world, how they react to things, what effect they have on people and you do that by telling their story.

It was sad music. But it waved its sadness like a battle flag. It said the universe had done all it could, but you were still alive.

The space between the young reader’s eyeballs and the printed page is a holy place and officialdom should trample all over it at their peril.’

Monsters are getting more uppity, too (...) I heard where this guy, he killed this monster in this lake, no problem, stuck its arm up over the door (...) and you know what? Its mum come and complained. Its actual mum come right down to the hall next day and complained. Actually complained. That's the respect you get.

My character - and for that matter my worst habits - could only be described by someone else. You can't open a box with the crowbar inside it.