Abby

“Art is not one great act of creation, but many small ones. When you read one of my poems, you fail to see the weeks of careful work it took me to build it--the thinking, the scratched-out words, the pages I burned in disgust. All you see, in the end, is what I want you to see.”
― Samantha Shannon, The Priory of the Orange Tree

“But Granny doesn't consider this an "escape" in the proper sense of the word, because she believes there has to be some basic aspect of challenge to the whole thing if it's to count as an escape-- a dragon or a series of traps or at least a wall and a respectably sized moat, and so on.”
― Fredrik Backman, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

“Remember, Tané, that a sword does not need to be whetted at all hour to keep it sharp.”
― Samantha Shannon, The Priory of the Orange Tree

“You were challenged beyond the bounds of what could be done, and found a path to make it true.”
― Naomi Novik, Spinning Silver