What's the point in being an unpopular writer? It just doesn't make a lot of sense. For me it doesn't, anyway.

The only thing that's authentic about what a writer writes is his work.

People say I don't write books, I make Christmas presents.

Advertising seemed almost natural to me because it was a business where you had to inform, persuade and educate. And so from being a junior copywriter to being the creative director of one of the largest advertising agencies in the country took me 4.5 years, which is, well, a fairly spectacular rise.

My job is essentially that of an entertainer, no different to that of a musician, no different to that of an actor. I just happen to be an author.

My job, and that's my job, is to dress the naked truth. To make it interesting, to make it viable, to make it seem like something you understand and feel and love.