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The fiction writer in me likes gaps in stories because I can jump into that gap and try to suggest something.

Actually when we stopped New Order I was busier than ever. The only gaps have been while we've been writing.

Some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle and end.

I like it when stories are left open.

I don't have a great eye for detail. I leave blanks in all of my stories. I leave out all detail, which leaves the reader to fill in something better.

In my case, the long gaps between my books have got quite a lot to do with lack of confidence. A lot of the time when I'm not writing I start thinking I can't do it.

My sister-in-law believes that few narratives are so tightly constructed that you can't skip boring bits and still keep abreast of what's going on.

Very often when a story really holds us, it gets pushed away because it's too close for comfort.

In writing my historical novels, I have to rely upon my imagination to a great extent. I think of it as 'filling in the blanks.' Medieval chroniclers could be callously indifferent to the needs of future novelists. But I think there is a great difference between filling in the blanks and distorting known facts.

My stories are often a little mysterious.