I've put men to death-men with supposedly immortal souls-that looked dumber than that mouse

I never have a thematic intention at the outset. The story informs the theme for me rather than the other way around. But as it happens... this is, at least to a degree, about getting old and the rapid passage of our lives.

...they came to see what happened to their town, to see if it was indeed lying burnt and bleeding. Many of them also came to die.

the look of the sky as the day's blue blood runs out of its cheek.

Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.

Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones.

That's not such a bad thing,' he said to me. 'In nightmares we can think the worst. That's what they're for, I guess.