On the first day Coraline's family moved in, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible made a point of telling Coraline how dangerous the well was, and they warned her to be sure she kept away from it. So Coraline set off to explore for it, so that she knew where it was, to keep away from it properly.

I don't know if any single book made me want to write. C.S. Lewis was the first writer to make me aware that somebody was writing the book I was reading - these wonderful parenthetical asides to the reader.

Do you know why I stopped being Delight, my brother? I do. There are things not in your book. There are paths outside this garden.

I have world class photographic red-eye pretty much all the time. As a general rule, if it's taken with a flash, I look like I am possessed by the blazing forces of darkness, at least in the eye department.

He had noticed that events were cowards: they didn't occur singly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all at once.

To be Despair. It is a portrait. Only close your eyes and feel.

As we age, we become our parents; live long enough and we see faces repeat in time.