Falling is the part that takes your breath away. It's the part when you can't believe the person standing in front of you both exists and happened to wander into your path. It's supposed to make you feel lucky to be alive, exactly when and where you are.

It didn't take inspiration to dredge up a list of plot points, but to find that moment — the perfect moment that defined a book, that made it come alive as something greater then the sum of its words — that required an alchemy you couldn't fake.

Her laugh,' she said finally 'She snorted when she laughed.' The corner of my mouth inched up but a new heaviness settled across my chest. 'I love when people do that,' I admitted. 'My best friend does it. I always feel like she's drowning in life. In a good way. Like it's rushing up her nose, you know?

I loved that vulnerable excitement when he first caught sight of something that made him feel before he could cover it up.