Editing is everything. Cut until you can cut no more.

A story needs rhythm. Read it aloud to yourself. If it doesn't spin a bit of magic, it's missing something.

Find your best time of the day for writing and write. Don't let anything else interfere. Afterwards it won't matter to you that the kitchen is a mess.

Trust your reader. Not everything needs to be explained. If you really know something, and breathe life into it, they'll know it too.

Believe in the reader and they can connect the dots, if you succeed breathe life into the story

A wonderful book . . . Full of sadness, hope, and ultimately love. I found it very moving.

Strong determination makes the distination shine.

Opera is an extremely disciplined art form, and every excess a singer indulges in has a direct effect on the voice.

There are people who take the heart out of you, and there are people who put it back.

Is it only humans that look up with wonder at the stars and the vastness of the universe?

To live remains an art which everyone must learn, and which no one can teach.

All the time he's boxing, he's thinking. All the time he was thinking, I was hitting him.

As for his secret to staying married: "My wife tells me that if I ever decide to leave, she is coming with me."

Leo waited while the fish centaur put away his supplies. Aphros's lobster-claw horns kept swimming around in his thick hair, and Leo had to resist the urge to try and rescue them.

Ciao," I say casually, and flick my hair back. "Si. Ciao." I could so be Italian. Except I might have to learn a few more words.

Pity does not get you aid. Admiration at your refusal to give in does.