Comedy was one of those genres that while appearing quite jolly was actually highly dangerous.

Lesson one in time travel, Thursday. First of all, we are all time travellers. The vast majority of us manage only one day per day.

Mr. McGregor's a nasty piece of work, isn't he? Quite the Darth Vader of children's literature.

The industrial age had only just begun; the planet had reached its Best Before date.

Scientific thought - indeed, any mode of thought, whether it be religious or philosophical or anything else - is just like the fashions that we wear - only much longer lived. It's a little like a boy band.

To a great extent, I still write for myself, write what amuses me. Fortunately, I have a quirky sort of strange sense of humor that appeals to other people and that's good. I still sort of write for myself though there are some areas of the book I feel I have to put in and I feel I have to deliver.

He was, after all, the ultimate rebel -- it takes a lot of cojones to stand up to Zeus.