She firmly held the theory that everyone gets at least one very stupid superpower.

Writing is one of the few careers for which you essentially train yourself, the other two major ones being juggling and pickpocketing.

Dr. Everest, got up and gave us a little pep talk. Mostly it boiled down to the fact that it was autumn, and everyone was back, and while that was a great thing, people better not get cocky or misbehave or he'd personally kill us all. He didn't actually say those words, but that was the subtext.

because talent alone doesn't make an artist

Were you playing with Stuart?" she asked. The question was loaded. I was a filthy, filthy woman, and even the five-year-old knew it.

It was almost funny. Life seemed downright accidental in its brevity, and death a punch line to a lousy joke.

It was like the entire world was colluding to make me feel insane, and it was doing a really good job.