..and Only Sticks And Stones Can Break

As A Teenager, I Was Always This Strange Mixture Of Kind Of Vice-captain Of The Rugby Team And Sensitive Artist Type The Rest Of The Time. I Was Sent Away To This Public School In The Middle Of Nowhere, And I Think We Managed To Completely Miss Out On Normal Youth Culture.

Writing For Children Is Bloody Difficult; Books For Children Are As Complex As Their Adult Counterparts, And They Should Therefore Be Accorded The Same Respect.

Indeed, I Am Repeatedly Astonished By The Number Of Really Good Writers Who Understand Human Beings So Well On Paper But Don't Know How To Deal With Them In Real Life.

...and I Wrote A Book And That Means I Can Do Anything

Children Simply Don't Make The Distinction; A Book Is Either Good Or Bad. And Some Of The Books They Think Are Good Are Very, Very Bad Indeed.