I like writing about teenagers because it's a time of great change and conflict. Up to then, you accept what your parents tell you.

When writing about Edinburgh, I place my characters in the parts of the city that I myself have lived in, or else know well, those being the Southside, Marchmont in particular, where I lived as a student, and the New Town/Stockbridge area where I live now and have done for the past 30 years.

I find Edinburgh a stimulating place in which to live, with it being a city of contrasts, both architecturally and socially, and each district having a definite character.

I had a very distant relationship with my father. It was always just me and my mother. It was a shattering blow when she died. I was 16.

For us to become a nation, everyone - including Arabs, Druze, ultra-Orthodox and new immigrants - must feel that they belong. Their success is extremely important to us. If they succeed, they will come to understand the advantages of democracy and freedom.

Love is based on imagination.

Novels are my favorite to write and read. I do like writing personal essays, too. I'm not really a short story writer, nor do I tend to gravitate to them as a reader.

I think, even when I was little, there was signs that I was an artist. I've always been an artist. My first exploration through art was really through music - I've trained classically with piano for about ten years.