The best restaurants are always down the side streets.

A writer who’s afraid to express their opinions is not a writer – they’re just a person with a pen.

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

I like to discover something new each day, to interpret the world in a way others might not, like a child might approach new experiences.

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

It’s much harder to twist the charitable arm of a lottery winner compared to that of a man at his lowest ebb. It sounds like the wrong way round at first, but when you really...

I like to play around with my nightmares. Whenever I have a bad dream – something strange and unnerving – I write it down, sometimes in the middle of the night when everyone around me...

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

When I read a daring book or listen to rebellious music, I feel like I’ve found what freedom really means.

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

Books are readable drugs.

People love books because they’re searching for answers to deep, unconscious questions – and books get as close as it’s possible to get.

People who love reading get an instantly warm feeling in their bellies when they hear others describe getting comfortable with a good book.

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...

If the voice inside your head doesn’t sound anything like you, you might be a writer.

I am driven not for myself, but for others.

People who don’t read fiction are scared of what’s inside their own heads.

I’m going to fight, in my own way, until there’s nothing left of me to stuff inside the barrel and ignite.

Fuck choice. I want freedom.

Books are like rivers, meandering this way and that, but taking us on a steady, flowing course to somewhere different.

I’m proud to be a writer. I’m doing the job all my heroes did.

There are books that change our perspectives and books that change our personalities.

My best writing surfaces out of the need to rebel, the desire to end emotional chaos and the importance I place on embracing that independent streak inside us all that makes us want to break...

Two hours later and I had to fork out for her taxi home. Bitch didn’t even give me her number. I wasn’t properly pissed because I’d controlled my urge to drink heavily so I could...

It’s better to be remembered for what you said, not what you earned.

We are all the sum of a million moments in our lives.

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

Lyrics paved my teenage route to loving words. I take those passionate mini-stories with me everywhere.

I love judging people. It makes all my fears disappear and all the things I don’t like about myself seem so much less important.

I have a very addictive personality. If it isn’t women, it’s money. If it isn’t money, it’s speeding. And if it isn’t speeding, it’s women. I also like expensive video consoles where I can punch,...

We all have different voices for different occasions. I just turn those voices into characters and put them in my books.

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

Most of the people I worked with in my old job were pretty cool. We used to go out drinking after lights out and the less pleasant members of staff would be the topic of...

The only difference between writers and people who don’t write is that writers aren’t afraid to display their demons.

I’m endlessly fascinated by the way people interact, what they say to each other and how they respond to different situations.

To prepare to write, I don’t surround myself with books. I surround myself with feelings.

When I see the confident light in his eye cloud over, the animal in the corner of mine wakes up.

All the best writers take risks, offend people often and say fuck you to the critics.

The Bible should be taught in schools – in English, with all the other fiction.

Reality was dawning on him and he hated reality. If you were him, so would you.

I’m much more than a writer – I’m someone who puts different words together in an interesting way.

Most people assume I write at night because of the kind of books I write, but I can shut out the light with my mind.

I hate going back. I’d rather live at the bottom of my river of black, dragged this way and that by the forces that be, than go back there. Those forty-eight hours took twenty years...

She was not alone in her respect for him. Because he is more than a boss to people. He’s a religion for non-believers.

No matter what the good boys tell you, criminality is not a level playing field.

As a passionate writer, reader and fiction lover, I enjoy sharing recommendations and promoting the work of fellow authors.

He was breathing. That’s the first thing you always check for.

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.

Someone asked me, ‘How do you write a book?’ I said, ‘I live with a pen in one hand.

First time I ever put pen to paper, I had one goal – to build something no one had ever thought of before.