I don't base any character on a real person, and really don't do composites either. I make them up.

He wanted to heave the glasses against the wall. Break them, break everything he could reach. Beat it, rend it. He stared out the window, imagined the city in flames, consumed to ashes. And still it wasn't enough.

Did they know - the young and fearless - what a miraculous thing it was to have all of anyone?

A good story's like a door, and you can go through it whenever you need to. After you've read it or seen it or heard it, you can still go back through it. Once it's yours, it's always yours.

I got you a present." "Did you?" "It's a book of poetry--romancy stuff. I thought, 'How schmaltzy is that,' so it seemed like the thing. Then I screwed up and left it in my desk at work

Life's tough," Mia said with a shrug. "You play the cards you're dealt or you fold.

If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place.