Children's books are often seen as the poor relation of literature. But children are just as demanding as adult readers, if not more so. I should know. I'm a children's writer myself.

I'm terribly attention-seeking. It's very different once you get all this attention, though. Because then you want to control it. And you can't exactly.

I was quite fat as a kid. And swimming is a sport you can enjoy whatever size you are. If you're fat, running is a pain. I'm not really built for running.

All you can do in this life is follow your dreams. Otherwise you're just wasting your time.

A bully can only make you feel bad about yourself if you let them.

I thrive off the company of others, I love being sociable.

I was the kind of person who got bullied and loved the attention of it.

I've just swum the length of the Thames. I feel quite tired.

People think writing a children's book is something you could do in an afternoon but it's actually really hard.

I am a huge fan of 'Doctor Who.'

I was depressed as a child. I found it hard to make friends. My favourite thing was locking myself in the bathroom and practising comedy routines.

To live in happiness, always do something that will bring joy to others.

All food eaten in anticipation of a kiss is delicious.

The alchemy of diamonds from the rough is to mine every moment.

I have done almost every human activity inside a taxi which does not require main drainage.

I believe that photography can create great works of art, but hitherto it has been extraordinarily bourgeois and babbling. (1908)

That grand drama in a hundred acts, which is reserved for the next two centuries of Europe-the most terrible, most questionable and perhaps also the most hopeful of all dramas.

Mindfulness means being aware of how you're deploying your attention and making decisions about it, and not letting the tweet or the buzzing of your BlackBerry call your attention.

Life exists without rules; games cannot exist without rules. So real religion is always without rules; only false religion has rules, because false religion is a game.

Real leadership is not about prestige, power, or status. It is about responsibility.

Just write, get better, keep writing, keep getting better. It's the only thing you can control.