I have, I must admit, despised the English countryside for much of my life - despised it and avoided it for its want of danger and adventure.

I have in the past acquired a reputation for concocting non-existent writers and unwritten volumes.

Retiring from writing is to avoid the inevitable bitterness which a writing career is bound to deliver as its end product in almost every case.

I was brought up in a flat in North London - virtually the last building in London, because north of us was countryside all the way to the coast, and south of us was non-stop London for 20 miles.

If you hire people just because they can do a job, they'll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they'll work for you with blood, sweat, and tears.

At certain times, your career should be a party.

I work incredibly hard - just like every other person in business and work. And aside from the fact of, yes, I am the brother of someone very important, I am, at the end of the day, just James.

When I left West Ham in 2004 there was a chance of them signing me instead of Spurs, but it isn't something I think about too often. I've been spoilt during my career.