I get ideas for my books from people I know and what happens to them, from places I've been and what happens to me, and from things I read.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Usually, a number of events will be going on around me to start me on a book. What I mean is, I will have read a poem or seen a picture that is lingering in my mind.
All of my books are based in some way on my personal experiences, or the experiences of members of my family, or the stories kids would tell me in school.
Books stay with me and have shaped me and made huge impacts on my life.
I write books to find out about things.
The importance and influence of books on me has been cumulative: the result of hearing and reading lots of stories about interesting people and places.
The question I am most often asked is how do I find my ideas? The answer is I don't. Ideas find me. A character in history will suddenly step right out of the past and demand a book. Generally, people don't bother to speak to me unless there's a good chance that I'll take them on.
My book has a lot of parts of my life that people don't know about.
Sometimes a book influences me because it winds me up. There'll be something that gets under my skin and makes me think that I can do better.
People who read my books have an open mind when it comes to new, bizarre, interesting and exciting ideas.
I get ideas from my own personal experiences, from my imagination, and from my research and from old stories.