For Beatrice, summer without you is as cold as winter. Winter without you, is even colder.

This is my knife. It is very sharp and very eager to hurt you.

People don't always get what they deserve in this world.

Wherever there’s a conductor, you’re sure to find a dead composer!

It is always cruel to laugh at people, of course, although sometimes if they are wearing an ugly hat it is hard to control yourself.

That night was a dark day. Of course, all nights are dark days, because night is simply a badly lit version of day.

My work is very dear to me, and certainly I have had all the emotional highs and lows that go with trying to get it to an audience. But I do have some kind of detachment that seems somewhat unusual in my trade. I'm a writer who writes every day. I don't have a period of months where I can't get anything done and I wander around tearing my hair out. When I come back from a book tour, for instance, I might have one day where I sleep late and then check my e-mail, and then go for a walk, and then the next day I'm really itching to get back at writing a story.