Author

I dream a lot, in colour and in sound and scent. Quite a few of my stories have come from dreams.

I have an advanced degree in procrastination and another one in paranoia.

I find littering very annoying. It's a minor but also a major thing: a society that litters is one that also has so little respect for the environment and, consequently, other people. If we had clean streets, a lot of other things would be fixed almost effortlessly.

I've nothing against kids reading anything they please, but I do have a problem with pink books for girls and black books for boys.

I was convinced I'd hate Twitter - but I've come to like it very much. I use it mostly to keep in touch with friends and colleagues I wish I could see more often - I sometimes feel a little isolated living in Yorkshire, and it's nice to have the contact.

The great thing about books is that you can end with a question mark.

Anything based on ancient texts is difficult for a modern reader to get their head around.

I am not at all a chocoholic. I would rather eat anchovy toast.

I can write absolutely anywhere. All I need is a laptop.

For me, the magic of Hawaii comes from the stillness, the sea, the stars.

The great thing about books is that you can end with a question mark.

The interesting thing about the Internet is that it has created a kind of alternative circle of friends for people.

I was a very bad accountant; I didn't care about money, golf or discovering fraud. After about a year I was sacked; then I went into teacher training.

It may be something to do with my having been to a girls' school, but I'm far more comfortable making male friendships than female ones. My friends tend to be men and their significant others.

I'm quite an untidy person in a lot of ways. But order makes me happy. I have to have a clear desk and a tidy desktop, with as few visual distractions as possible. I don't mind sound distractions, but visual ones freak me out.

Writing books and being paid for it - it's not like winning the Lottery. You can't suddenly go, 'Yippee!' and start throwing tenners in the air. I've done pretty well out of it, but certainly not enough to say, 'Right, that's me set up for life.'

I have a tendency to pick up my own challenges. The more difficult something it is, the more I want to try it.

I am not at all a chocoholic. I would rather eat anchovy toast.

I first saw the island of Noirmoutier when I was two weeks old. I think it's probably safe to say that I didn't fully appreciate it at the time; but I grew to love it as year after year I spent holidays there at my grandparents' cottage.

I am fascinated by how people eat and what it reveals about them.