Personally, I avoid deus ex machina like the plague - if you have to use one, it means you failed to set up the universe and the plot properly. It's like a whodunnit where there's no actual way for the reader to identify the perpetrator before the climactic reveal: there's no sense of closure for the reader.
Charles StrossI tend to think that immortal souls, invisible sky daddies, and Santa Claus all belong in the same basket. The disposition of that basket is left as an exercise for the reader.
Charles StrossThe problem with ebook filesharing is simply one of scale. But I think the "piracy" problem is massively over-rated.
Charles StrossBack before the internet we had a name for people who bought a single copy of our books and lent them to all their friends without charging: we called them "librarians".
Charles StrossIf I wanted to be in movies, I'd have gone into scriptwriting: the fact that I write novels should be a big hint about what I prefer to do!
Charles Stross