Our lives are our mythic journeys, and our happy endings are still to be won.

Though now we think of fairy tales as stories intended for very young children, this is a relatively modern idea. In the oral tradition, magical stories were enjoyed by listeners young and old alike, while literary fairy tales (including most of the tales that are best known today) were published primarily for adult readers until the 19th century.

We’re all misfits herefrom our weirdnesses and our differences, from our manic fixations, our obsessions, our passions. From all those wild and wacky things that make each of us unique.

But for me, really, the written word is always stronger than film.

There's that old adage about how there's only seven plots in the world and Shakespeare's done them all before.

I have a great respect for the academics who are working with the source material. My hat's off to them.

A good novel editor is invisible.