I imagine horses in the engine, their manes flying, their breaths steaming, their nostrils flaring as they gallop.

I wish I had a boyfriend. I wish he lived in the wardrobe on a coat hanger. Whenever I wanted, I could get him out and he'd look at me the way boys do in films, as if I'm beautiful.

I want to die in my own way. It's my illness, my death, my choice. This is what saying yes means.

It was strange how words meant something when they came out of your mouth. Inside your head they were safe and silent, but once they were outside, people grabbed hold of them.

Every seven years our bodies change, every cell. Every seven years, we disappear.

Then she says, ‘I love you.’ Like three drops of blood falling onto snow.

We make patterns, we share moments.

All I know is that I have two choices – stay wrapped in blankets and get on with dying, or get the list back together and get on with living.

I love you. I love you. I send this message through my fingers and into his, up his arm and into his heart. Hear me. I love you. And I'm sorry to leave you.

It's all right, Tessa, you can go. We love you. You can go now.' 'Why are you saying that?' 'She might need permission to die, Cal.' 'I don't want her to. She doesn't have my permission.

Bye, Tess. haunt me if you like. I don't mind.

Hate hates what it mirrors or envies.

It is a melancholy truth that even great men have their poor relations.

Forward momentum. That's my new motto. No regrets. And no going back.

It's not hard to write poorly. But to write something good, it has to be revised.

The nice thing about having a friend who is crazier than you are is that she bolsters your belief in your own sanity.

Long necks. The thrust of the head in a certain position. The way the fingers work, fabrics work. It's all part of my painting background.

Not one of us can lie or pretend. We're all fixed in good faith in a certain concept of ourselves.

I like the idea of a strong woman in charge.

The brain can be seen as a complex machine, like a gooey computer.

It's a big deal when you finally get the chance to do the one thing you want to do - need to do - more than anything. It can kind of scare the crap out of you.