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Most of my interests in terms of writing are dark, so it's discordant how much I try to lock into the vibe of wherever I'm at. Inhabiting the life of the imagination is the nature of survival strategy - you build yourself little worlds to enjoy.

Also, most people read fiction as an escape - and I wonder whether my books aren't a bit too grounded in reality to reach the widest possible audience.

I think part of what I like about being a fiction writer is that I can inhabit something that's beyond the limits of my own personality.

I think I write fiction for the opportunity to get beyond the limits of my own life.

Writers are in the entertainment business, and it gives me lots of pleasure to entertain my readers.

I think I have a job, which is to present a character in a story and entertain you and divert you with my work - that's it.

A writer's life suits me. It's fairly, well, other people might think it was actually rather dull, but that's fine because I feel that my imagination is enough to kind of keep me happy.

I needed my life as a springboard for my fiction. I have to have something solid under my feet when I write. I'm not a fantasist. I bounce up and down on the diving board, and I go into the water of fiction. But I've got to begin in life so I can pump life into it throughout.

I suppose I have an active imagination, and writing allows me to live it out.