The government was to raise the duty on cheese to 83 percent, an unpopular move that would doubtless have the more militant citizens picketing cheese shops.

That's the thing about destiny: It can't be predicted, and it's usually pretty odd.

Without a yardstick sometimes the high points can be taken for granted.

If the real world were a book, it would never find a publisher.

Defiance through compliance.

I still feel threatened by academics, but my books have a lot of academic in-jokes and everybody assumes I went to university and studied English.

There is a certain degree of steampunkishness that creeps into my books.