...Because we're human, we're fascinated by stories, and because stories give our experiences coherence, we long to understand how they're conjured up.

The legendary 1950s improvisational comedian Mort Sahl was once asked that perennial, tiresome question in an interview: "Where do you get your ideas from? What's your process?" "What's the process?" barked Sahl. "You put in potatoes, and you get out vodka."

Mort, you're so right. The craft lies, for me, in thinking about what makes vodka and what, through the process of attrition, turns only into a reeking mess of fermented spuds...

Cate Kennedy
in an article in The Age
(Good Read)