“Will set his fork down and began cheerfully, in the manner of Edward Lear's Book of Nonsense:"There was once a lass from New YorkWho found herself hungry in York.But the bread was like rocksThe parsnips shaped like -" ”

“Lay me down like a stone oh God, and raise me up like a new bread".”

“Tessa set her fork down. "Would you like to meet him? I could summon him up in a trice if you like. Being a warlock and all.”

“Thanks to Dr Nick Edwards, who helped persuade me to write this book. Feel free to read his book In Stitches. It is like mine but not as good.”

“I tried to picture a young, insecure Edward and couldn't, but it was nice to know that once he'd been a boy. Sometimes it felt like Edward had sprung full grown from the head of some violent deity,like a vicious version of Athena.”

“I want him to be my Edward -- taking care of me, always. Watching over me, day or night, unsleeping. Keeping me safe, by his side. Caring for me with a passion so pure it can't be corrupted by time or distance or seduction. I know Edward is only fiction. But that doesn't have to mean love like his can only be found in books and movies or rooted in the misty world of dreams.”