Weakness is a guise. Wear it when they need to know you're human, but never when you feel it.

The ox feels the yoke, but does the bird feel the weight of its wings?

My stories usually begin with the characters and some elements of how power (personal, political, magical) functions in the world. The rest develops as I write, and research helps a great deal with that. If you're going to write about an agrarian economy, research agrarian economies. If your main character is starving, then you should know what it means for a malnourished body to break down.

But I’ve also been known to answer to ‘sweetheart’ or ‘handsome.

Anything worth doing always starts as a bad idea.

Don't argue. Never deign to deny. Meet insults with laughter.

Oh, and the easiest way to make someone furious is to tell her to calm down.