“The best thing about being a writer is the joy of creating a story that’s never been told before.”

“For there has never been a story nearly as tragic as the one of Frankenstein, except for that of Johnny Heart and his Francesca Valentine.”

“Never be afraid to fall apart because it is an opportunity to rebuild yourself the way you wish you had been all along.”

“Mozart creates a universe out of pleasantries.”

“There is something universally chilling about a new plot. And I could see how my boy needed time and space for a story to bloom in his mind, because at any age what comes before sight is a conjuring. A trope, which is just a way to believe.”

“One thing I have learned from many years of watching my father is that some people, the best ones, are motivated more by the chance to prove themselves than by a command to serve. It is the work itself that calls them onward, especially if they believe they are the only ones who can do it.”

“The only drama I have time for is the kind between the covers of a book.”