I can remember being home from school with tonsillitis and writing stories in bed to pass the time.

The boat dipped and swayed and sometimes took on water, but it did not sink; the two brothers had waterproofed it well. I do not know where it finally fetched up, if it ever did; perhaps it reached the sea and sails there forever, like a magic boat in a fairytale. All I know is that it was still afloat and still running on the breast of the flood when it passed the incorporated town limits of Derry, Maine, and there it passes out of this tale forever.

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 do have one slightly crooked wheel upstairs, but everything else is ticking along just four-o, thank you very much.

For most of us, I think it's easier to admit doing wrong than being stupid.

The woman had looked into the abyss and then walked out across it.

Story is honorable and trustworthy; plot is shifty, and best kept under house arrest.