“Prayer, for centuries, has only ever been a way to make humans beings ...” — Grace Dent Quote

Prayer, for centuries, has only ever been a way to make humans beings sit still, take stock of the human condition and hopefully try to do things a bit better.

If you don't love a table groaning with fancy salads, pimped-up couscous, show-stopping trifle and a cubic ton of my grandmother's own recipe Coronation Chicken, watching friends gravitate towards it with plates and sharp elbows, then, sweetie, you're not really an eater.

I love very simple, light cocktails like a Twinkle - champagne, vodka and elderflower. I'm also a fan of the New Fashioned - it's a whisky cocktail with rosemary, peach bitters and ginger ale.

Well, I never went for posh meals when I was little.

Even a writer like me, who, in 'The Firebird,' is telling the story of people who've been dead for nearly three centuries, needs to take care. Those people may not be around any longer to tell me what actually happened, but neither are they able to defend themselves against unjust portrayals.

The decline of violence is a fractal phenomenon. You can see it over millennia, over centuries, over decades and over years.

When you have a natural genetic tan developed over centuries and many generations, the idea of soaking up rays by the pool has never made sense.

If you look at the history of music, you have classical composers, church music, pop music, etc. Music that's existed for centuries. I think there are some songs that are close to immortal. They will last longer than we will in this lifetime.