It's like the human race has been programmed for misery.

As for writing about temptation, there's no drama without temptation, and no novel without drama.

When things don't go well, it helps to think of yourself as a genius and the rest of the world as a bunch of idiots.

I was also known as Frodo because I was an early adopter of 'The Lord of the Rings.

I think I was always writing books that had very clear scenic structures. I do tend to write in scenes. I do tend to have a fair amount of dialogue. And I do tend to use stories that don't sprawl all over the place, that have a very sharp focus in terms of how they unfold in time.

After all, what was adult life but one moment of weakness piled on top of another? Most people just fell in line like obedient little children, doing exactly what society expected of them at any given moment, all the while pretending that they’d actually made some sort of choice.

My novels are certainly more exciting than my own life.