Sometimes human beings are very much like bees. Bees are fiercely protective of their hive, provided you are outside it. Once you’re in, the workers sort of assume that it must have been cleared by management and take no notice; various freeloading insects have evolved a mellifluous existence because of this very fact. Humans act the same way.

Often you will discover that the harder you work, and the more wisely you work, the luckier you get. But there is luck, and it helps.

I went away in my head, into a book. That was where I went whenever real life was too hard or too inflexible.

We do what we do, because of who we are. If we did otherwise, we would not be ourselves.

It’s a New Year and with it comes a fresh opportunity to shape our world. So this is my wish, a wish for me as much as it is a wish for you: in the world to come, let us be brave – let us walk into the dark without fear, and step into the unknown with smiles on our faces, even if we’re faking them. And whatever happens to us, whatever we make, whatever we learn, let us take joy in it. We can find joy in the world if it’s joy we’re looking for, we can take joy in the act of creation. So that is my wish for you, and for me. Bravery and joy.

There's a but, isn't there?" said Coraline. "I can feel it. Like a rain cloud.

The search for the word gets no easier but nobody else is going to write your novel for you.