I'll never forget a meeting with one publisher where they said, 'We don't publish books for teenage boys; teenage boys don't read.'

The message of 'Zomb-B' is that you have to listen to your own heart and head and question everything. Question stereotypes and the way the world seems or is being presented. Some of the people we should be most concerned about, dangerous right-wing bigots, sound convincing and reasonable.

I think you can spread yourself across any number of genres when you're a writer as long as you have a deep, abiding love for each of them.

Reading has always been the great love of my life.

The idea that a book can advise a woman how to capture a man is touchingly naive. Books advising men how to capture a woman are far less common, perhaps because few men are willing to admit to such a difficulty. For both sexes, I recommend a good novel, offering scenarios you might learn from, if only because they reflect a lot of doubt.

Education is all about igniting young minds and enabling them to attain their fullest potential.

My first career was as a coach and a teacher.

My chemistry teacher wanted me to do chemistry, and my art teacher wanted me to do art. Fashion seemed like a good in-between - using your brain but being creative.