Will You Still Love Me When I'm

There Are Certainly Times When My Own Everyday Life Seems To Retreat So The Life Of The Story Can Take Me Over. That Is Why A Writer Often Needs Space And Time, So That He Or She Can Abandon Ordinary Life And "live" With The Characters.

Writing For Young Children I Find I Often Use Particular Jokes With Words And Exaggerated, Funny Events, But Some Of These Haunt The More Complex Stories For Older Children Too.

For In Some Ways The World Was Like A Shopping Centre, And He Himself Was A Doubtful Customer, Often Ineffectual, Being Talked Into Buying Things He Didn't Want, Things Indeed Which Nobody In Their Right Mind Would Want To Buy.

At The Same Time, I Think Books Create A Sort Of Network In The Reader's Mind, With One Book Reinforcing Another. Some Books Form Relationships. Other Books Stand In Opposition. No Two Writers Or Readers Have The Same Pattern Of Interaction.

When You Are Reading, Someone Has Done A Lot Of Work On Your Behalf, Someone Has Had Ideas And Has Then Written And Corrected And Improved Them So That They Can Be Shared.