Even a boring occupation can be interesting when your goal is to do it better

We were the only westerners in our neighbourhood, ... Our goal was to cover the realities of the occupation on the ground and we had not got the same security concerns as, say, CNN. Maybe at some levels they don't trust Iraqis with their security. There's a part in the book where I'm trying to take CNN to a refugee camp, and they wouldn't go. And so no one sees Falluja refugees.

Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy.

Laziness is a secret ingredient that goes into failure. But it's only kept a secret from the person who fails.

Only amateurs say that they write for their own amusement. Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth... But amusing? Never.

What happens when the future has come and gone?