I was pretty aimless as a youth, especially in Patna. I think reading saved me.

My past makes me an insider, but my profession makes me an outsider. A writer always stands outside to report on reality.

What is the difference between the novelist and the liar? At some moments, I have often wondered.

I have always kept notes and have kept letters from my friends and mother, which is rather depressing, as it takes you to the past.

I don't see myself as an artist, as a writer. The sort of writing that I do, which is popular fiction, it's work. I have contracts to fulfil, and I have deadlines to meet.

Relevance, for me, is about being creative and doing things that you believe in, whether that's music or acting or painting a picture, or whatever that is.

The short story seems like the best of all possible worlds. I do feel it is closer to writing poetry than to writing a novel, with its requirements of concentration and economy.

I have been surrounded by artists and paintings throughout my life. My father Ted Dyer is an artist, and from a very early age I have spent time painting and drawing.