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That was the - It was an exciting time because it was as though I was sort of tied up in a paper bag or in a gunny sack with a rope around the neck of it, and all of a sudden with the acceptance of that first book everything sort of spilled out!

If I hadn't been able to get my first book published, I am not sure what I would have done.

I sometimes wonder what would have happened if the first book had not sold... doesn't bear thinking about, but I suppose we'd have made it work somehow.

The first time I remember really being excited about a book was 'The Count of Monte Cristo.'

The books are all very, very different so the publishers really had to be different too.

I really absolutely loved writing my first book.

While I'm writing, I'm also the first reader, and I want to write a book where I'm excited about what happens next.

The books one has written in the past have two surprises in store: one couldn't write them again, and wouldn't want to.

The first book I did - the first successful book - was a kind of a travel book, and publishers in Britain encouraged me to do more.

I'd pretty much given up hope of being published, so I just wrote the book I wanted to read.