We are more than the parts that form us.

You never do things the easy way, do you?" she said. "There's an easy way?" I asked.

Isn't that the way of the world? We want the sweet things, but we need the unpleasant ones.

Half of seeming clever is keeping your mouth shut at the right times.

Frequently, an author gets "orphaned" at a publisher. What this means is that an editor buys their book, then ends up getting fired, promoted, or transferred to a different job somewhere else. It sucks for the author because suddenly the person who liked your book enough to buy it isn't around to help you edit and promote it.

Practice makes the master.

I think the tendency to over-explain and over describe is one of the most common failings in fantasy. It's an unfortunate piece of Tolkien's legacy. Don't get me wrong, Tolkien was a great worldbuilder, but he got a little caught up describing his world at times, at the expense of the overall story.