But then again, maybe bad things happen because it’s the only way we can keep remembering what good is supposed to look like.

It's the child who's supposed to cry, and the mom who makes it all better, not the other way around, which is why mothers will move heaven and earth to hold it together in front of their own kids.

You need to learn to write on demand, and to get critiqued without flinching. When someone can rip your work to shreds without it feeling as though your arm has been hacked off, you're ready to send your novel off to an agent.

We believe what we want to, what we need to. The corollary is that we choose not to see what we'd rather pretend doesn't exist.

Like the teens I worked with, I understood the need for miracles--they kept reality from paralyzing you

You saved me," I said. Nathaniel put his hands on either side of my face. "I had to," he said. "So you could save me back.

When you begin a journey of revenge, start by digging two graves: one for your enemy, and one for yourself.