I have never had too much trouble for creative ideas to spring up in my mind.

At the age of 12 I won the school prize for Best English Essay. The prize was a copy of Somerset Maugham's 'Introduction To Modern English And American Literature.' To this day I keep it on the shelf between my collection of Forester's works and the little urn that contains my mother's ashes.

I shot my first lion at the age of 14 when a pride threatened my father's livestock while he was away on holiday.

My family wasn't terribly affluent and looked upon money very carefully as something that had to be saved, not spent. My father built the ducting that took air into the copper mines and made about 6 d a yard in the Thirties, which was good money back then.

Write for yourself, not for a perceived audience. If you do, you'll mostly fall flat on your face, because it's impossible to judge what people want. And you have to read. That's how you learn what is good writing and what is bad. Then the main thing is application. It's hard work.

My first novel was rejected by some of the most eminent publishers in the world. Starting again was a real wrench.

It's a strange paradox that a man gifted with too many talents can fritter them all away without developing a single one to its full.