GRAEME SIMSION

I am happy that I'm a better novelist than a screenwriter.

Fortunately, I am accustomed to creating amusement inadvertently.

I set out to write a screenplay but, since my early 20s, had dreamed of writing a novel.

Interestingly for me, modern rom coms have not always been funny - many of the iconic rom coms are more like light dramas with occasional comedic moments, often coming from secondary character.

A lot of romantic comedies are just light romantic dramas, or the comedy comes off second-best.

There's definitely a role for online booksellers, but they can't host events, bring people together, and form a personal relationship in the way a bricks-and-mortar store and its staff can.

I worked in information technology and academia for a long time and met many people who were better with things and ideas than with people.

I feel I've done the 10,000 hours you have to do to get good at something.

I am a big advocate of the role of the bookstore in the community.

All of us have to make some accommodations and allowances if we are to live with another person.

Restaurants are minefields for the socially inept

What would you like?" "A skinny decaf latte." This is a ridiculous form of coffee, but I did not point it out.

You’re unbelievable,’ said Rosie. ‘Look at me when I’m talking.’ I kept looking out the window. I was already over-stimulated. ‘I know what you look like.

I could not see the speedometer, and was not accustomed to travelling in an open vehicle, but I estimated that we were consistently exceeding the speed limit. Discordant sound, wind, risk of death—I tried to assume the mental state that I used at the dentist.

I know this song!’ Rosie laughed. ‘If you didn’t, that’d be the final proof that you’re from Mars.

Professor Tillman. Most of us here are not scientists, so you may need to be a little less technical.’ This sort of thing is incredibly annoying. People can tell you the supposed characteristics of a Gemini or a Taurus and will spend five days watching a cricket match, but cannot find the interest or the time to learn the basics of what they, as humans, are made up of.

You can’t go through life not listening to music.

I watched as Humphrey Bogart’s character used beans as a metaphor for the relative unimportance in the wider world of his relationship with Ingrid Bergman’s character, and chose logic and decency ahead of his selfish emotional desires. The quandary and resulting decision made for an engrossing film. But this was not what people cried about. They were in love and could not be together. I repeated this statement to myself, trying to force an emotional reaction. I couldn’t. I didn’t care. I had enough problems of my own.

Humans often fail to see what is close to them and obvious to others.

But why, why, why can't people just say what they mean?

Research consistently shows that the risks to health outweigh the benefits of drinking alcohol. My argument is that the benefits to my mental health justify the risks.

If you really love someone,' Claudia continued, 'you have to be prepared to accept them as they are. Maybe you hope that one day they get a wake-up call and make the changes for their own reasons.

There are so many weird people that nobody takes any notice. We all just fit right in.

I asked you here tonight because when you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

So, to add to a momentous day, I corrected a misconception that my family had held for at least fifteen years and came out to them as straight.