An on going series of a quote a day from those most worthy of individuals, writers…  Disclaimer: Not all quotes are meant to inspire… Not all comments I make upon them are entirely honest either, occasionally Hannibal writes them…

Tom Holt, occasionally Thomas Holt when he is been a tad more intellectual in his historic fiction, and occasionally K J Parker when he is writing fantasy, is both one of Britian’s most prolific, funny and entertaining writers. This particular quite is from his novel Being Human, and is about being human…

His particular brand of strange and wonderful fiction (which should never be described as Zany as one review once did in the early nineties) seeks to answer those most important of questions, what do retried gods do when Valhalla has been changed into a wine bar, who when it comes down to it is afraid of Beowolf… just what do you do when you work for a legal firm that deals with underworld, and what do Rhine-maidens do when they aren’t looking for Wagner’s ring…

He was, though I tend to mention him less, as big an influence on my writing as Pratchett, Rankin, Gaiman and others… One story in particular in Passing Place, the one told by Literal Lyal the vaguely demonic barman, owes much to Mr Holt… Without reading his novels I suspect I would have never thought up a Demonic Horticulturalists lawyer who does strange things with daffodils… A tale of which I am possibly a tad too proud…

Beware of potted plants… they may be watching you!