The pleasures of afternoon tea run like a trickle of honey through English literature from Rupert Brooke's wistful lines on the Old Vicarage at Grantchester to Miss Marple, calmly dissecting a case over tea cakes at a seaside hotel.

Michael Thomas's goal for Arsenal against Liverpool [to snatch the title in the dying seconds of the 1988-89 season], or Liverpool's Champions' League win this year, are much more dramatic than anything you could ever write,

That's what sofas are for: sit down, drink a cup of tea, talk of literature. At least that's how I see it.

A lot of my stories are inspired by Japanese folklore or literature or movies: I've done stories based on Kabuki and Noh plays, and on Kurosawa's 'Yojimbo' movies.

When I was younger, my mum used to put fresh flowers in bath water instead of rubber ducks, and since then I had a love of perfumes.

It's scary for me to act. It's terrifying. But I must be addicted to the adrenaline rush of the fear. It's like bungee jumping, I suppose. But after I accomplish it, I get this great sense of satisfaction and an overwhelming feeling of well being.