'I've lately begun to employ exercise books of the type I used as a child; copybooks of eighty or so pages, in which I can reflect on the idea I'm developing, '

I've lately begun to employ exercise books of the type I used as a child; copybooks of eighty or so pages, in which I can reflect on the idea that I'm currently developing, think through the methods I might use, and make notes that can be expanded.

'Email services offer automated replies, as if we are too lazy, too sybaritic, too thoughtless, to write 'thank you' ourselves.'

Email services offer automated replies, as if we are too lazy, too sybaritic, too thoughtless, to write 'thank you' ourselves. Computers are taking over our sensibilities, our style. My writing style reflects the way I think about the world.

'We make a fire at dusk and dance around it in wild leaps to stave off the sharp chill of early frost. I can smell the smoke from the birchwood. '

We make a fire at dusk and dance around it in wild leaps to stave off the sharp chill of early frost. I can smell the smoke from the birchwood. And as night falls, I see that our fire is the only light in this immense primeval darkness.

'The thing I recall about the Mark Billingham and Val McDermid event is the sheer pleasure experienced by the audience. They were gripped. '

The thing I recall about the Mark Billingham and Val McDermid event is the sheer pleasure experienced by the audience. They were gripped throughout. Fascinated by the insight being shared into how the books that they loved were created.

'My thoughts associate freely as I swim among the ducks, coots and moorhens with their chicks. The solution inevitably bubbles up from some recess of my brain.'

My thoughts associate freely as I swim among the ducks, coots and moorhens with their chicks. The solution inevitably bubbles up from some recess of my brain. Home to breakfast and I'm at my desk by half past nine.

'The idea of being a writer is essentially a fabrication, and never is that more obvious than just after publication day'

The idea of being a writer is essentially a fabrication, an illusion born of romantic ideas about inspiration and creativity, and never is that more obvious than just after publication day, when a new writer goes on a tour of the bookshops.

'I travelled the county, then the country, then the world. Swimming got me into writing; an anonymous report on the triumphs of one 'P. Mason' in the local paper...'

I travelled the county, then the country, then the world. I met all kinds of people. I met girls. I shook hands with now disgraced royals. And swimming got me into writing; an anonymous report on the triumphs of one 'P. Mason' in the local paper...

'The creative part of my brain, that had written countless scripts, configured myriad plots, conjured hundreds of characters, had simply seized up. '

The creative part of my brain, the part that had written countless scripts, configured myriad plots, conjured hundreds of characters, had simply seized up. It felt like a gear stick stuck in neutral, and I was powerless to move it.

'Regardless of when I went to bed, I was awake by five a.m., exhausted, and with the feeling I'd lost a violent fight. '

Regardless of when I went to bed, I was awake by five a.m., exhausted, and with the feeling I'd lost a violent fight. I had an amazing life, but there were considerable periods when the world felt hollow, and I could feel very little for it.

'In the Hay green room, I once met Carlos Fuentes. I admired him so much that I took a selfie with him; only the second time I have ever done such a crass thing.'

In the Hay green room, I once met Carlos Fuentes. I admired him so much that I took a selfie with him; only the second time I have ever done such a crass thing. In terms of the actual event, if asked, I would say: prepare, prepare, prepare.