One curious thing about growing up is that you don't only move forward in time; you move backwards as well, as pieces of your parents' and grandparents' lives come to you.

I have a desk that I can raise or lower according to the state of my aching back. Sometimes I stand at it, and sometimes I have it high up to write at and sometimes a bit lower to type.

And before I'd got to the end of the first paragraph, I'd come up slap bang against a fundamental problem that still troubles me today whenever I begin a story, and it's this: where am I telling it from?

I don't like it when I see my books sold cheaply.

There are aspects of '24' where I love its politics and aspects where I hate them.

Our politics has been greatly impacted, for the worse, by big money and the concentration of big money.

Supermarkets have contributed as much to increasing the standard of living in the United Kingdom as almost any government policy. They bring a level of convenience and quality that was unknown to previous generations at a highly competitive price because of their buying power.

Iraqis have held elections and have recently put together their government, all encouraging developments.