The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure.

Believe, believe, believe

How fast the ears learned to tell what sounds meant, much faster than it took the eyes to decipher written words.

Second, there are so many magical places in books that you cant go to, like Hogwarts and Middle Earth, so I wanted to set a story in a place where children can actually go.

And I always read the English translation and always have conversations with my translator, for example about the names. I always have to approve it.

If I was a book, I would like to be a library book, so I would be taken home by all different sorts of kids.

So it's happened, I kept thinking, you're in the middle of a story exactly as you've always wanted, and it's horrible. Fear tastes quite different when you're not just reading about it, Meggie, and playing hero wasn't half as much fun as I'd expected.