In many ways, it was much, much harder to get the first book contract. The hardest thing probably overall has been learning not to trust people, publicists and so forth, implicitly.

Tomorrow may be hell, but today was a good writing day, and on the good writing days nothing else matters.

Everything here is so weak, little girl. Everything breaks so easily. They want such simple things.

Be hole, be dust, be dream, be wind/Be night, be dark, be wish, be mind,/Now slip, now slide, now move unseen,/Above, beneath, betwixt, between.

It has occasionally been remarked upon that it is as easy to overlook something large and obvious as it is to overlook something small and niggling, and that the large things one overlooks often cause problems.

Nobody's American," said Wednesday. "Not originally. That's my point.

And then it went, and time passed properly once more, every second following every other second just like they're meant to.