A short story is a different thing all together - a short story is like a kiss in the dark from a stranger.

and so will the world end, I think, a victim of love rather than hate. For love's ever been the more destructive weapon, sure.

I've put men to death-men with supposedly immortal souls-that looked dumber than that mouse

Now panic beats and flutters inside my skull like a flock of starlings locked in an attic.

It's exciting and it's thrilling and it's not particularly threatening, because they're not overtly sexual. A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that's a shorthand for all the feelings that they're not ready to deal with yet.

I go where the story leads. And, sometimes, it is a little bit outrageous. And I relish that. I sort of want to be as much on the edge as I can.

The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool.