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If there is an audience out there for me, I want them to be surprised when the next book comes out.

Finding people who get enormous pleasure from reading books is a more and more unusual experience, and so writers just so much want to be heard.

Most people - and particularly people whose lives have nothing to do with books at all - are intrigued by the idea that somebody wants to listen to them and get it right.

You see, the interesting thing about books, as opposed, say, to films, is that it's always just one person encountering the book, it's not an audience, it's one to one.

People - me included - want to get excited about books. Good books are a good thing.

I'm happy to see book clubs on TV. Talking about books has always been an important and invigorating part of reading them, and it's nice that that is getting attention from the media.

I don't ever write with a particular audience in mind. I just write books that please me.

I don't perceive an audience at all when I write a book. It's pure self-indulgence.

It gives me a huge buzz when people say they've enjoyed my books, because this grew out of a hobby, and it's an absolute passion, and it's lovely when I get feedback.

I always have had a slightly jaundiced view about people who promote books about themselves.