It's true that writing is a solitary occupation, but you would be surprised at how much companionship a group of imaginary characters can offer once you get to know them.

You think we're a family,' Cody said, turning back. 'You think we're some jolly, situation-comedy family when we're in particles, torn apart, torn all over the place, and our mother was a witch.

I hated childhood, and spent it sitting behind a book waiting for adulthood to arrive.

Sooner or later, even the sharpest pain became flattened.

Point of view is not something I consciously decide. Almost always, when I come up with a plot I find that the point of view has automatically arrived with it, part and parcel of the story.

People always talked about a mother's uncanny ability to read her children, but that was nothing compared to how children could read their mothers.

For my own family, I would always choose the makeshift, surrogate family formed by various characters unrelated by blood.