That's what Archie did - built a house nobody could anticipate a need for, except himself, a house that was invisible to everyone else.

I had my bully, and it was excruciating. Not only the bully, but the intimidation I felt.

The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile.

There are no taboos. Every topic is open, however shocking. It is the way that the topics are handled that's important, and that applies whether it is a 15-year-old who is reading your book or someone who is 55.

I write very tightly, and my big fear is boring people. I want them to read quickly, stopped in their tracks. I resist indulging myself.

It's amazing that the heart makes no noise when it cracks.

Cities fell. Earth opened. Planets tilted. Stars plummeted. And the awful silence.