The barriers between reality and fiction are softer than we think; a bit like a frozen lake. Hundreds of people can walk across it, but then one evening a thin spot develops and someone falls through; the hole is frozen over by the following morning.

Agents and publishers only want one thing - good writing.

I've got six months to sort out the hackers, get the Japanese knotweed under control and find an acceptable form of narcissus.

Without unscrambled eggs, there was no time travel, no more depredation of the Now, and we could look to a brighter future of long-term thought--and more reading.

Take no heed of her.... She reads a lot of books.

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

the best lies to tell are the ones people want to believe