My spine spoke to me; I felt vulnerable, like he was gradually covering me in a heavy layer of gold without even having to touch me.

Aref knelt, reached into his pocket and produced an implement made from a small stick which he called his miswak, the use of which he silently illustrated before handing her his spare. He also gave...

He’s in a side room alone with her and it’s far too fucking hot.

An overnight bag with the company logo – a white silhouette of a finch (which once perched on the curved back of a stallion representing cofounder, Orwell, but has now been ‘adjusted’) – sits motionless...

When I write, I write obsessively. I try to pace myself, but some fires are too hot to put out.

My best writing happens when I’m fighting to produce it.

Pain is usually all on the surface, but this terror is internal; not just a hurt, but a new language of feeling.

I’m an observer. I am fascinated by people and how their minds work (and, of course, my own). Why we are the way we are, why we do the things we do – and that...

On some days she was able to see both sun and moon at the same time. Like feuding cousins, they hung in two corners of the vast world-ceiling refusing to look at one another. The...

Baumauer has been lured into the exhausting habit of supplying Kalist with ever more exceptional quality work just to appease him and often survives all day and all evening without food, but Maxwell D. Kalist...

When a person sets out to learn from others and not to teach others he becomes a true writer.

It’s difficult to quantify precisely the effect of books on our lives – but generally speaking, it’s enormous.

Isn’t she just Little Miss Sweetness and Light?” – and it was a statement that put him off proposing. It made him seriously reassess his options. He didn’t want to be with someone others saw...

One day, I decided I was going to write books forever.

I always feel anxious if anyone’s close to uncovering my secrets.

Don’t suffocate in there.

The breeze around them seemed to drop – dead – like a door to the best things had just closed.

The drive was strangely calm. Deathly calm. Dark, light …. dark, light …. dark again as we glided under repeat street lighting. Four men sitting silently in four leather seats. Could hear the creaks. The...

The fear of not being remembered is a dangerous thing.

You are a more powerful person than you might have ever imagined.” Maxwell D. Kalist.

You’re a fat cunt and you can’t add up to save your life.” Dimitri Pissec.

The most lies we will ever tell in our lives will be to ourselves.

I live, love and loathe my characters. They stole my mind. They stole my heart.

The city is sore with movement, but still it oscillates. Busy people churn through grey-toned streets, their briefcases held close, rustling against trouser legs. The collective machine is tired, but each worker drives on. Gleaming...

The greatest barrier to self-understanding is our fear of knowing the truth within ourselves, but when we do understand ourselves, we greatly enhance what we are capable of.

her daughter”.

Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.

When I write, I try to represent the voices of people I’ve known who had no voice.