I once read part of a John Grisham interview in which he said he would never write about children and animals getting hurt. I guess he's a mass market novelist and it's his job not to offend as many people as possible.

I, however, being such an obscure novelist that my mother once returned one of my efforts on the basis she had never heard of the author, can disregard any such sensitivities to the marketplace. Let's put it more bluntly: I like writing about children and animals getting hurt. In fact, I hope to one day write about a busload of children crashing into a zoo and exploding.

Of course, I never understand people who get upset by art. They really are baffling. I mean, if you're going to get offended then get offended by the real world, what goes on in it and how people treat each other. Don't get all huffy about things that aren't real and stuff that hasn't actually happened. That just makes you a silly-billy.

Right, back to my latest scene about a dog being chucked into a concrete mixer.