Authorial Focus Quotes

Well, language seems to be something that obsesses me. I'm always writing about it.

I'm a writer who never writes about sex. It's so far from my own fictional world.

But in general, for the purposes of most novelists, the number of objects genuinely necessary for. . .describing a scene will be found to be very small.

When I wrote 'The Shadow Thief,' I had an obsession with Peter Pan. I get focused on things. In fact, I was an absolute horror to live with at that stage. I had a big fight with my mum because I wanted her to change the windows so Peter Pan could visit me.

There's a perception that novels can't usually allow for your kind of absolute attention to detail.

I mean, if we're concerned genuinely with writing, I think we probably get on with our work. I think this is very true of English writers, but perhaps not so true of French writers, who seem to read each other passionately, extensively, and endlessly, and who then talk about it to each other - which is splendid.

As a novelist, I remain interested in the notion of a single reckless act and its consequences.

I am a big believer in the fact that all authors really write only one book.