She tortured everybody around her, but only because she was more tortured than anyone.

When I was 35 I realized that I was still thinking a lot about what it would be like to go to Narnia. To really go - not just in a daydream, or in a children's book, but what it would actually feel like, physically, psychologically, every other way. The idea was haunting me.

I used to write in a local coffee shop, but there was another guy, another writer, who kept sitting in my favorite seat. I would show up, and he would be there, and I would get exiled to a couch or something, and it would throw me off my game.

Maybe this was one of those times when being a hero didn’t involve looking particularly brave. It was just doing what you should.

Being a hero, the man had observed, is largely a matter of knowing one’s cues.

I recognize that on paper, you can't really tell that I'm a fan or a nerd.

Read everything. If you haven't read everything, you'll never be able to write anything.