Realistically, the chance of any book becoming a film is slim.

We used to flock to watch gladiators, public torture and executions. In more recent times, our appetite for mortal violence has been sublimated in sports, photorealistic video games, film and literature.

One of the reasons I wrote 'Airborn' was that I'd fallen in love with the great passenger airships which flew in the '20s and '30s. Their time was short-lived. They were frail, they tended to crash; and they could never be as fast, safe and efficient as the airplanes that replaced them.

Nothing's scarier than having a sick child, and one so newly born, and so vulnerable. It's the worst thing for a parent.

I'm cursed with this puritanical streak that makes me want everything to be about something. It's a terrible affliction.

You flatter me shamelessly. I like it. Good.