In fact, very few people on the face of the planet know that the very shape of the M25 forms the sigil *odegra* in the language of the Black Priesthood of Ancient Mu, and means 'Hail the Great Beast, Devourer of Worlds'.

Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point MY POINT EXACTLY.

I've lost both parents in the last two years, so you pick up on that stuff. That's the most terrible thing about being an author - standing there at your mother's funeral, but you don't switch the author off. So your own innermost thoughts are grist for the mill.

The disc, being flat, has no real horizon. Any adventurous sailor who got funny ideas from staring at eggs and oranges for too long and set out for the antipodes soon learned that the reason why distant ships sometimes looked as though they were disappearing over the edge of the world was that they were disappearing over the edge of the world.

The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.

Maybe the only significant difference between a really smart simulation and a human being was the noise they made when you punched them.

By the time you've reached your sixties, you do know that one day you will die, and knowing that is at least the beginning of wisdom.