Fiction is able to encompass books that are bleak and which dwell on the manifold and terrible problems of our times. But I don't think that all books need to have that particular focus.
You do not have to ladle on the impasto to make a point about human frailty or ambitions.
I've certainly always had a very high regard for Botswana and so I paint a very good picture of the country and I've never pretended to be painting an entirely realistic picture.
I think people in Botswana are pleased that my books paint a positive picture of their lives and portray the country as being very special. They've made a great success of their country, and the people are fed up with the constant reporting of only the problems and poverty of the continent. They welcome something which puts the positive side.
My wife Elizabeth and I started The Really Terrible Orchestra for people like us who are pretty hopeless musicians who would like to play in an orchestra. It has been a great success. We give performances; we've become the most famous bad orchestra in the world.
But you cannot expect every writer to dwell on human suffering. I think my books do deal with grave issues. People who say they are too positive probably haven't read them.
If you lose sight of the smaller accomplishments, you end up with an imbalance in your life.
I have three older sisters, so we were a reasonably large family and, in general, a happy one.
The local community is very important in one's life; the feelings of identification with a place and people.
As a writer I've learned certain lessons. One of them is to be careful about how you put a view, and to bear in mind how easily and readily you'll be misinterpreted.
One of the most destructive things that's happening in modern society is that we are losing our sense of the bonds that bind people together - which can lead to nightmares of social collapse.
The wider your readership, the greater the chances of offending your readers.
You're always told by your publisher that you must only write one book a year and some years you should perhaps write none at all.
As a writer, I have readers who will have a range of political views. I don't think they look to me for political guidance.
Well, I'd say all of us are a combination of moods and emotions. In my day to day life I don't go around skipping, but at times one can feel sheer exhilarating joy at the world.
New York is a wonderful place to be up, an awful place to be down.
