The 1990s were a boom time for fiction. In those days - and this is not an exaggeration - a teenage girl could secure a half million pound advance for a one-page outline of her first novel. Those of us who had been in the business since of old viewed the transformed present with bemusement and bitter envy. Read more
Children's creativity
'The creative process is open to all. I don't believe in some magical creative gift, the exclusive possession of a few, nor need it concern big or sophisticated ideas. On the contrary, creativity may depend upon the recognition that our own thoughts and ideas are as valid as anyone else's; something which we knew as children, and which we were taught to unlearn. Read more