And despite everything I know now, I still believe, as I did when I was little, that there is an entire universe of things that my mother knows that I don't. I still believe that nothing truly bad can ever happen if my mother is around. I know it's not true. But still. It is true.

In fiction, you can be as true as you want. Real life is a different story.

Don't let anyone convince you that love doesn't matter.

We are only as great as our struggles. We only become who we are in the face of them.

Writing a novel is a lot like reading one.

It's vital to learn how to make the best of things.

It's more important to be interesting, to be vivid, and to be adventurous than to sit pretty for pictures.