Before any of it could make sense, it had to be heard.

You'll live forever in our hearts, big man. That particularly galled me, because it implied the immortality of those left behind: You will live forever in my memory, because I will live forever! I AM YOUR GOD NOW, DEAD BOY! I OWN YOU!

...whatever you're worried about, you're bigger than the worries.

I wanted to, you know, get my story out in the world, which, it turns out, is a very misguided notion.

Being in a relationship, that's something you choose. Being friends, that's something you just are.

I enjoy writing about people falling in love, probably because I think the first time you fall in love is the first time that you have to figure out how you're going to orient your life. What are you going to value? What's going to be most important to you? And I think that's really interesting to write about.

It is easy to forget how full the world is of people, full to bursting, and each of them imaginable and consistently misimagined.