Once upon a time, a girl lived in a sandcastle, making monsters to send through a hole in the sky.

I might try that one thing, you know, that thing people do when their eyes get all wet and stupid—what’s it called? Crying? Or NOT. I might PUNCH you instead and trust that you won’t punch me back because of my endearing smallness. It would be like punching a child.

When you are young, hone your craft and write shorter pieces instead of novels, because it's really hard to finish a novel.

Madrigal sniffed herself. "I'm almost sure I don't smell." "Maybe not, but between shining cleanliness and not smelling, there is a vast gray area.

The truth, she found, felt smooth, like a skipping stone in the palm of your hand.

A pause came between them, and it was so full of Akiva that Karou imagined she could smell him.

His eyes are blue, and blue eyes up close are a celestial phenomenon: nebulae as seen through telescopes, the light of unnamed stars diffused through dusts and elements and endlessness. Layers of light. Blue eyes are starlight.