What I Like About Writing

I Don't Want Children. Why Should I Let Some Strange Little Monster Into My Life To Destroy What To Me Is A Perfect Set-up?

Failure Makes Success So Much Sweeter, And Allows You To Thumb Your Nose At The Crowds.

I Wanted To Be A Great White Hunter, A Prospector For Gold, Or A Slave Trader. But Then, When I Was Eight, My Parents Sent Me To A Boarding School In South Africa. It Was The Equivalent Of A British Public School With Cold Showers, Beatings And Rotten Food. But What It Also Had Was A Library Full Of Books.

At The Age Of 12 I Won The School Prize For Best English Essay. The Prize Was A Copy Of Somerset Maugham's 'introduction To Modern English And American Literature.' To This Day I Keep It On The Shelf Between My Collection Of Forester's Works And The Little Urn That Contains My Mother's Ashes.

Beware Of Your Most Implacable Enemy-yourself.