Dates, lime and adventure stories.

1. I stand sadly in the middle of the precinct because I can't think of any chocolate or cake in town that I want. Later in the greengrocers, I put five plump and sticky fresh dates in a paper bag.

2. Grating the zest from a lime -- the scent of it.

3. A book of short adventure stories by the man who dreamed up Conan, Robert E. Howard. Haunter of the Ring and Other Tales is a collection of those ponderous dark stories that publishers won't take any more. They begin slowly -- sit down, get comfortable, ready to listen while I tell you -- rather than bouncing you into the story by starting in the middle of the action.