The students were staring at her in the manner of those who have heard of the species 'female' but have never expected to get this close to one.

In my early teens, I read every bound volume of the magazine Punch. Every writer of any distinction in the English language, and I mean including America and England, at some time wrote for Punch. Jerome K. Jerome, who wrote Three Men In A Boat, I loved. I was very impressed when I read a piece by Mark Twain in Punch, and realized that despite the fact that they were on different continents, Jerome K. Jerome and Mark Twain had the same kind of laconic, laid-back, "The human race is damn stupid, but quite interesting" attitude. They were almost talking with the same voice.

Nanny's philosophy of life was to do what seemed like a good idea at the time, and do it as hard as possible. It had never let her down.

You have to have really wide reading habits and pay attention to the news and just everything that's going on in the world: you need to. If you get this right, then the writing is a piece of cake.

People who used magic without knowing what they were doing usually came to a sticky end. All over the entire room, sometimes.

Logic is a wonderful thing but doesn't always beat actual thought.

Remember - that which does not kill us can only make us stronger. And that which does kill us leaves us dead!