Happy Birthday!' I yelled, 'Now, shut up!

Back when I taught middle school and wrote adult mysteries, my students often asked me why I wasn't writing for kids. I never had a good answer for them. It took me a long time to realize they were right.

The dead see what they believe they will see. So do the living. That is the secret.

The Set animal’s jaws were pried open so fast that it yelped and let go of my arm. I stood, now encased in a magical barrier twice my normal size, and kicked Leroy into a wall. Good! said Horus. Now dispatch the beast to the netherworld! Quiet man. I’m doing all the work.

If anybody felt worse than I did, it was Amos. I had just enough magic to turn myself into a falcon and him into a hamster (hey, I was rushed!)

Could I just use the loo?” I asked the nice officer. “No.” She closed the door in my face, As if I might rig an explosion in the toilet. Honestly.

I realized that anyone who dared to hurt me would suffer his full wrath, and Walt wasn’t going to hold him back.