What's funny about that is when I was writing Twilight just for myself and not thinking of it as a book I was not thinking about publishing and yet at the same time I was casting it in my head. Because when I read books I see them very visually.

I love Mikhail Bulgakov. He is very original and takes the story to unexpected places. I didn't realise political writing could be so funny.

I remember listening to the radio as a kid and finding that the songs always made me feel more peaceful. Funny but the more hurtin' the music was the better it made me feel. I think of that now when I write my songs. I may not be feelin' the blues myself but I'm writing them for other people who have a hard life.

Plus I love comic writing. Nothing satisfies me more than finding a funny way to phrase something.

People forget how outcast 'They Might Be Giants' can be. They have a reputation for writing really deft funny clever melodies and they also make a lot of music for kids which is terrific but when you see them in concert they can rock the house.

I started writing when I was 9 years old. I was like this weird kid who would just stay in my room typing little funny magazines and drawing comic strips.

You know how it is with writing. You just write what you want to write. There's no way to predict what is good or bad. You just do what you think is funny and either it works or you're finished. It's impossible to predict anything.

I love Charlie Billy Burke's character. Writing for him is so spectacular he's so funny and wry and every scene he's in he just takes. There's a scene in 'Eclipse' where Bella tells him she's a virgin and it's the funniest most awkward scene I've ever seen on film.

We've got a bunch of new writers now who tell me they grew up watching The Simpsons. It's bizarre and they're writing some very funny stuff.

So that's why one of my rules of parody writing is that it's gotta be funny regardless of whether you know the source material. It has to work on its own merit.