What happened to goodbye?

True friendship is a promise you keep forever.

But as was so often the case, it was the one person missing who you thought about more than the ones who were right in front of you.

Doesn't it seem sometimes that the whole world's uphill but at least we know the way back will be easy.

You couldn't just pick and choose at will when someone depended on you, or loved you. It wasn't like a light switch, easy to turn on or off. If you were in, you were in. Out, you were out.

I think my biggest problem, though, at least in drafts, is not repeating myself. After eight books I get worried that a character or piece of dialog might be too much like something I've already done. So it's a challenge to keep it fresh.

All we had was her room, her stories, and the quiet that settled in as we tried in vain to spread ourselves out and fill the space she'd left behind.