You don't want to move toward some utopian literary situation where everybody's free of all conventions. That's ridiculous! Conventions are what you need. You have nothing to break down if you don't have conventions.

You're saying the gods don't have free will." "The power to make mistakes," Penny said. "Only we have that. Mortals

Becoming an author changes your attitude too. Once you see where books come from, and how they're made, they never seem quite as sacred again.

For just one second, look at your life and see how perfect it is. Stop looking for the next secret door that is going to lead you to your real life. Stop waiting. This is it: there's nothing else. It's here, and you'd better decide to enjoy it or you're going to be miserable wherever you go, for the rest of your life, forever.

The danger would be going back, or staying still. The only way out was through. The past was ruins, but the present was still in play.

Magic is wild, dangerous stuff. You never realize how useful limitations are until it's much too late.

People - me included - want to get excited about books. Good books are a good thing.