From a newsgroup post dated August 30, 2010:

I’ve been reading Kushiel’s Dart. Not rushing, just reading a chapter or two every so often.

I read two chapters tonight, and one of them has a scene where Phedre goes to the temple of Kushiel to do penance. It’s not an important scene, and does nothing to move the plot forward, though it’s important to the character on a personal level.

And that scene, not much more than a two-paragraph throwaway, has me plotting a new story based on one passing detail in Carey’s description of Phedre’s arrival at the temple.

I’m not sure where my story is going yet, and since it’s high fantasy it may not be marketable, but it intrigues me. There’s an acolyte, you see, who discovers a secret she hadn’t wanted to learn…