Have you ever wanted something so much that you would do anything to have it - even knowing that it was bad for you?" "Of course," Adam replied. "All truly enjoyable things in life are invariably bad for you - and they are even better when done to excess.

Before I write the first page of a novel, I spend a long time creating detailed backgrounds for my characters. I imagine the experiences that have formed them, what makes them happy, angry, fearful, and what they yearn for.

Love will break your heart,[...] but love can also mend it. Not many things in life are both the cause and the cure.

But it was too late now. A lifetime too late. A million wishes too late.

I swear on St. Francis, the patron saint of all animals.” Seeing Poppy’s hesitation, Beatrix added enthusiastically, “If a band of pirates kidnapped me and took me to their ship and threatened to make me walk the plank over a shiver of starving sharks unless I told them your secret, I still wouldn’t tell it. If I were tied by a villain and thrown before a herd of stampeding horses all shod in iron, and the only way to keep from being trampled was to tell the villain your secret, I—

Can't you just tell me now?" "No, I need someone to eat with." A slight smile rose to my lips. "Am I supposed to believe that I'm your only option?" "No. But you're my favorite option.

Make your choice and accept the consequences.