All Writers Are Thieves; Theft Is A

I Was Cleaning Out The Pigsty At A Farm In Wales, Where My Mother Had Rented A Room, When The Results Of My Final School Exam Were Handed To Me By The Postman, Along With The News That I Had A State Scholarship To Oxford. I Had Waited For This Letter For So Many Weeks That I Had Abandoned Hope, Deciding That I Had Failed Ignominiously.

Life Isn't So Complicated For Children. They Have More Time To Think About The Really Important Things. That's Why I Occasionally Moralise In My Children's Books In A Way I Wouldn't Dare When Writing For Adults.

I Hope In My Books I Help Children To See Their Strengths, And Show Them I Have Some Idea Of What They May Occasionally Be Going Through. Especially At Tricky Moments When It Is Easier To Go Back And Evade Things Rather Than Go Forwards And Confront Them.

One Good Reason For Writing Novels Based On Your Life Is That You Have Something To Read In Old Age When You've Forgotten What Happened.

I Would Hate To Live In The Country, Unless I Was Living On A Farm.