I think it was the sense that Turn is a spy thriller, and that's a genre that really fascinates me, in general.

I had teen angst for a while, but I think every teenager has the angst.

I never really sympathised with Peter Parker.

I'm a hard-mouthed north-eastern lad. That's me - the Eminem of Northeast England.

I'll tell you what I hate - bands like My Chemical Romance.

When you have a child, you are just immediately changed forever. You put yourself second. Your child comes first, and everything that you do is with them in mind.

New York is great for people watching and there's a bunch of amazing rooftops.

I never realised that the Edinburgh skyline was so interesting - it's gothic and very urban and there's a lot of church spires and old brownstone buildings.

I love anything that kind of removes me from myself and employs something else. So, I love accents and I love pretending.

I'm awkward around girls.

I wanted to be a journalist for a long time.

Life is too short to read books that I'm not enjoying.

Abandoning your true self amounts to suicide except that it is less dramatic. Don't commit suicide so that you may appease some folks...

Money has a certain kind of amnesty.

I don't like showing my privacy online.

I don't believe a religion affords any protection if they are connected to any kind of terror.

I came to New York late; I was already past 30

There's nothing better than being able to give your children wings so they can soar and fly in the direction they want to go in.

I think some writers should wait for something to say.

I have women who offer to sleep with me all the time. But not men. They're all talk and nay action - as we'd say in Scotland.

That is how it feels. Like everything between us is twisted together, friendship and love and family, so I cant tell the difference between any of them.