A memory came to me. One time, in middle school, a famous author came to talk to our class and give a writing workshop. One of the things she told us about writing a novel was that the story should be about what the main character wants. Dorothy wants to go home to Kansas. George Milton wants a farm of his own. Amelia Medley wants to marry her darling George and live happily ever after. The end of the story, according to the famous author, is when the character either gets what he wants or realizes he’s never going to get it. Or sometimes, she said, like Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind, realizes she doesn’t actually want what she thought she wanted all along. Pg. 324 of Bewitching

— Alex Flinn

Anyone else feel like that? Like your life's a big act. Like you're trying to be a man when you're just a scared kid, trying to keep under control when you really want to scream, cry, maybe hit someone. Ever feel like you're breathing underwater, and you have to stop because you're gulping in too much fluid?

— Alex Flinn

Beside me, Philippe and Meg hold hands. He murmurs something that sounds like, "my dear beetle mongoose." I wish he'd turn back into a frog and hop away.

— Alex Flinn

But it's not enough. I don't look human. If I went outside, people would scream at the sight of me. Looks matter to most people. That's reality in the world."" Not my world." I petted Pilot. "I like your world, Will, but it doesn't have a very big population. I'm going to let her go.

— Alex Flinn

Everyone can use a little beauty.

— Alex Flinn

He bursts into tears, and not some manlike tears either, where you pretend you're brushing something off your face and, incidentally, wipe a tear. Nope. He starts bawling like a kid who spilled his Plushie...

— Alex Flinn

I can't go on like this

— Alex Flinn

...if there's a beast, maybe he's just a regular guy with a sin condition or something. Maybe he just needs some understanding. Maybe we judge people too much by their looks because it's easier than seeing what's really important.

— Alex Flinn

I just knew. There was no movie ending. There was only an ending.

— Alex Flinn

I love you, I thought. But I didn’t say it. It was not that I feared she would laugh in my face. She was far too kind for that. My fear was a greater one— that she won’t say it back.

— Alex Flinn