The book I made it big with in the U.S. was my fourth book, 'Sanctum.' My novels sell really well both there and in Canada, so once a year I do a promotional tour, visiting a different city every two days, doing book readings and signings.

Because I write a book a year, I always want to do one other project every year that's stimulating in a different way. It means you can be working but not using up your prose juice, you know?

I think graphic novels are closer to prose than film, which is a really different form.

With my earlier books, I got quite bored being with one protagonist all the way through. With the Alex Morrow books, I wanted to do something a bit more holistic, so there were lots of different points of view, and I wanted to look at aspects of crime that you don't tend to look at.

I had to gain experience as I did not have a technical education.

A lot of people criticize the primaries, but I think they are absolutely essential to the education of the President of the United States.

Believe it or not, one teacher used to call me a giant spastic for not being able to play football.

Education liberates a woman.