Use your power gently.

Here I am going to say something which may come as a bit of a shock. God doesn't necessarily want us to be happy. He wants us to be lovable. Worthy of love. Able to be loved by Him. We don't start off being all that lovable, if we're honest. What makes people hard to love? Isn't it what is commonly called selfishness? Selfish people are hard to love because so little love comes out of them.

Everyone deserves to be the hero of a novel.

A well-off plastic surgeon can suffer just as much as an Irish lad who has been abused or whatever.

There are dozens of great American writers who write about the family.

When I began to write seriously, 40 years ago now, my chosen form was the novel.

My study is a converted garage which is largely lined with bookshelves and cardboard boxes filled with manuscripts of my film scripts, plays and books.