You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.

You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.

With each book I write, I become more and more convinced that the books have a life of their own, quite apart from me.

When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable.

I didn't mean to give you the impression that life at the cathedral is like Barchester Towers as written by Dostoyevsky and heavily edited by John Updike.

A book comes and says, 'Write me.' My job is to try to serve it to the best of my ability, which is never good enough, but all I can do is listen to it, do what it tells me and collaborate.