A missing arm might ruin your symmetry. Personal asymmetry where I come from is a big taboo and brings great shame on the family and sometimes even the whole village." "Do you then have to kill yourself over it or something?" "Goodness me, no! The family and village just have to learn to be ashamed--and nuts to them for being so oversensitive.

How many people want to read about three disreputable pigs and a dopey wolf with a disposition towards house demolition?

Cats aren't really friendly, they're just cozying up to the dominant life-form as a hedge against extinction.

Death and the end of one's life are two very different things indeed.

...being written by someone who might not quite understand the subconscious nuance of the character leaves us in varying degrees of flatness.

It took me ten years and seven books to bag an agent - it took me that long to start writing good.

DCI Horner's advice to Jack Spratt: "Remember, m'boy," his old boss had said, eyes twinkling, "that if anyone tries to get the better of you, stand up straight and say to yourself in an imperious air, 'I am the new Mrs. de Winter now!' You'll find it works wonders.