I've been a screenwriter for twenty-five years. Every one of my books have been optioned for movies and I have written a few of those screenplays.

She didn't like being twelve. It felt like someplace between who she'd been and who she was about to be. It felt like no place at all.

Only her death could prove her innocence; a circle of impossible, deathly judgement.

Avoid men who call you Baby, and women who have no friends, and dogs that scratch at their bellies and refuse to lie down at your feet. Wear dark glasses; bathe with lavender oil and cool fresh water. Seek shelter from the sun at noon.

It was as if hope had appeared out of nowhere to settle beside her and it wasn't going anywhere, it wasn't going to desert her now.

Every time I finish a book, I forget everything I learned writing it - the information just disappears out of my head

Books may well be the only true magic.