..and only sticks and stones can break my bones.

You love someone, you've got to let something go.

And it occurred to him that there were two parts to being a better person. One part was thinking about other people. The other part was not giving a toss what other people thought.

Family, that slippery word, a star to every wandering bark, and everyone sailing under a different sky.

Humour and high seriousness... Perfect bedfellows, I think. Though I usually phrase it in terms of comedy and darkness. Comedy without darkness rapidly becomes trivial. And darkness without comedy rapidly becomes unbearable.

If one book's done this well, you want to write another one that does just as well. There's that horror of the second novel that doesn't match up.

I like having my back pressed against a wall and being made to work harder so I don't embarrass myself.