It's a mystery of human chemistry and I don't understand it, some people, as far as their senses are concerned, just feel like home.

But all three of them had had to lose things in order to gain other things. Will had lost his shell and his cool and his distance, and he felt scared and vulnerable, but he got to be with Rachel; and Fiona had lost a big chunk of Marcus, and she got to stay away from the casualty ward; and Marcus had lost himself, and got to walk home from school with his shoes on.

You can wait forever for the muse to sit on your shoulder, but most of the time you know what has to be done and inspiration is not going to help you.

We are never allowed to forget that some books are badly written; we should remember that sometimes they're badly read, too.

Sequels are very rarely a good idea, and in any case, the success of the book changed my relationship with the club in some ways.

I was still owed an explanation, I thought, but so what? What good was it going to do me? It wouldn't have made me any happier. It was like scratching when you have chicken pox. You think it's going to help, but the itch moves over, and then moves over again. My itch suddenly felt miles away, and I couldn't have reached it with the longest arms in the world. Realizing that made me scared that I was going to be itchy forever, and I didn't want that.

Reciprocation was a pretty powerful stimulant to the imagination.