Everybody is a hero in their own story if you just look.

Because I saw my parents relaxing in armchairs and reading and liking it, I thought it was a peaceful grown-up thing to do, and I still think that.

I'm an escapist kind of writer.

I'm pleased to have outsold great writers. But I'm not insane - I realize I am a writer people buy to take on vacation.

We're nothing if we're not loved. When you meet somebody who is more important to you than yourself, that has to be the most important thing.

All I ever wanted to do is to write stories that people will enjoy and feel at home with.

Always write as if you are talking to someone. It works. Don't put on any fancy phrases or accents or things you wouldn't say in real life.

I don't have ugly ducklings turning into swans in my stories. I have ugly ducklings turn into confident ducks.

I had a very happy childhood, which is unsuitable if you're going to be an Irish writer.

I've been very lucky and I have a happy old age with good family and friends still around.

If you woke up each morning, and immediately dwelt on your ills, what sort of a day could you look forward to?

An English journalist called Michael Viney told me when I was 25, that I would write well if I cared a lot what I was writing about. That worked. I went home that day and wrote about parents not understanding their children as well as we teachers did, and it was published the very next week.

I never wanted to write. I just wrote letters home from a kibbutz in Israel to reassure my parents that I was still alive and well fed and having a great time. They thought these letters were brilliant and sent them to a newspaper. So I became a writer by accident.

I was very pleased, obviously, to have outsold such great writers. But I'm not insane - I do realize that I am a popular writer who people buy to take on vacation.