I think most things are pretty magical, and that it's less a matter of belief than it is one of just stopping to notice.

There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart’s Desire.

What would be the fun in doing things you know are going to work?

My parents would frisk me before family events. Before weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs, and what have you. Because if they didn't, then the book would be hidden inside some pocket or other and as soon as whatever it was got under way I'd be found in a corner. That was who I was...that was what I did. I was the kid with the book.

If you are pointing out one of the things a story is about, then you are very probably right; if you are pointing out the only thing a story is about you are very probably wrong - even if you're the author.

All that I did," she said, "everything I tried to do. All for nothing." Nothing is done entirely for nothing, said the fox of dreams. Nothing is wasted. You are older, and you have made decisions, and you are not the fox you were yesterday. Take what you have learned, and move on.

This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until its done. It's that easy, and that hard.