“The characters act for reasons that they can’t control and, as readers, we have to believe in their motivations, their sense of choice and in the reality of their suffering, even though, deep down, we know it’s all just puppetry on the part of the writer.”

“The characters act for reasons that they can’t control and, as readers, we have to believe in their motivations, their sense of choice and in the reality of their suffering, even though, deep down, we know it’s all just puppetry on the part of the writer.”

“That small difference made all the difference.”

“I guarantee it will change your life, but only because everything does, however small.”

“Rejection is no badge of honour.”

“Nothing is over our heads if we hold them high enough.”

“A thrilling story can be dull if told badly, but even the most mundane event can be elevated into a tale of epic scale by a good storyteller.”

“Good writing is more about graft and craft than inspiration and aspiration.”

“To be motivated to write a novel, I need to be unable not to write.”

“I don’t see big subjects as separate from little ones. Yes, you could trudge through life with great human tragedies played out before your eyes without ever taking notice. Or you could see a universe in the smallest thing. The way a person takes their coffee, for example, might say something profound and important about that person, about all humanity, about existence itself.”

“A novel must be judged on its merits, not on how hard the journey was to write it.”

“Publishers are businesses and I don’t blame them for that. If they didn’t make money by publishing books, there wouldn’t be any books.”