When I was writing 'The Luminaries,' I read a lot of crime novels because I wanted to figure out which ones made me go, 'Ah! I didn't know that was coming!'

There was a computer in our garage when I was growing up, and I'd go out there in winter and wrap myself in a blanket and write a story.

I really wanted to write an adventure story, a murder-mystery that was set during the gold-rush years in New Zealand.

The books that really made an impact on me were not set in New Zealand. Some were New Zealand novels, but the New Zealandness of them was not what carried me or excited me.

How well we spend education dollars is just as important as how much we spend.

We have a government that boasts about free education. Those of us who have scratched below the surface know it is costing us by denying opportunities for others to attend college or university.

I can still remember. I was ill, and I was seven, and my father didn't want me to just read children's books. He came with Conan Doyle. I tried, and I liked it. I think the first I read was 'The Sign of the Four'; 'Study in Scarlet' was the next one. Then I guess I stayed home a few extra days from school to read.

Good education is so important. We do need to look at the way people are taught. It not just about qualifications to get a job. It's about being educated.