“As crime writers, we put these characters, year after year, book after...” — Mark Billingham Quote

“As crime writers, we put these characters, year after year, book after book, through the most horrendous trauma, dealing with grief and death and loss and violence. We can't pretend that these things don't affect these characters; they have to. If they don't, then you're essentially writing cartoons.”

“All you can hope for when you get a book adapted for TV is that you get a good actor and not some muppet off 'EastEnders.'”

“All writers I know are readers first and foremost, and that's why you become a writer.”

“If a candidate for president said he believed that space aliens dwell among us, would that affect your willingness to vote for him? Personally, I might not disqualify him out of hand; one out of three Americans believe we have had Visitors and, hey, who knows? But I would certainly want to ask a few questions.”

“A lot of magic is designed to appeal to people visually, but what I'm trying to affect is their minds, their moods, their perceptions.”

“This is our world and we need the same things to survive. If I'm making my life better and the circumstances of your life worse, that's terrible because in the end it will affect me, too.”