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I've always thought a novelist only has one character, and that is himself or herself. In my case, me.

It's hard to know whether certain characters come to life or not, they either come to have their own life or they don't. I've written many things in which the characters just remain inert.

I try to research or make up for myself what happened in any character's life. From when he was born until the first page of the script. I fill in the blanks.

I think, above all, the characters in my novels feel universal to the readers.

Many children's writers don't have children of their own.

Real people are never central characters in my works.

Characters don't belong to anyone, not even the person who plays them.

Any character that can't be kept straight, to me, isn't a character who should be in the book - you know, anyone not vivid enough to have a claim on my attention.

'Orphan Black' allows for people to have debates and theories and allegiances to different characters - to trust characters and hate other characters - but it doesn't tell you who is good or bad or right or wrong. That's the most exciting storytelling, in my book.