I know a lot of writers, and everyone works differently, but this is something that we truly have in common across all genres - the fiction has to be real inside your head.

It is through our extended family that we first learn to compromise and come to an understanding that even if we don't always agree about things we can still love and look out for each other.

I always thought that bagels and lox was my soul food, but it turns out it's sushi.

Something I notice speaking to writers from south of Hadrians Wall is that the culture is different. At base, I think Scotland values its creative industries differently from England.

I jealously guard my research time and I love fully immersing myself in those dusty old books and papers. It's one of the most enjoyable parts of my job.

The sky was a sparkling succession of black diamonds on black velvet made crystal clear by the blackout.

I believe the era of the militant lady is back.

Without archives many stories of real people would be lost, and along with those stories, vital clues that allow us to reflect and interpret our lives today.

Research material can turn up anywhere - in a dusty old letter in an archive, a journal or some old photographs you find in a charity shop.

Writers of novels live in a strange world where what's made up is as important as what's real.

Books have a vital place in our culture. They are the source of ideas, of stories that engage and stretch the imagination and most importantly, inspire.

It is our task, both in science and in society at large, to prove the conventional wisdom wrong and to make our unpredictable dreams come true

Out of all the magic words in existence, kind words produce the most powerful transformation spells.

Nought is there in wealth That serves as bulwark 'gainst the subtle stealth Of Destiny and Doom.

What is a rebel? A man who says no.

The life I live is my art work.

Drawing is the discipline by which I constantly rediscover the world.

I want my fluff-fluff! (Bob) Fluff-fluff… (Zarek looked panicked.) (Zarek)

These are only hints and guesses, Hints followed by guesses; and the rest Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.

In a way, this is a definition of shamanism. A shaman is a person who by some means has gotten out of their own culture.

Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.