Then what have you proved?” I asked. “Only that people will always try to make a better life for themselves.

I’m not sure why that story came back to me while I sat huddled in Sydney’s car on the way to the lake. It happened so long ago. I guess maybe it was because it gave me the assurance that when things got bad, there were certain people you could always count on.

Good stuff doesn’t just happen. You have to fight for it.

I can’t let that happen again. The stakes are way too high. I know that, now more than ever. If there’s anything good that came from my failure on First Earth, it’s that I have now totally given myself over to being a Traveler.

When I’m on tour, I get to meet hundreds of enthusiastic readers. There is truly nothing better for an author than having someone come up to them and say, “I loved your book.” For that, I’ll take off my shoes at airport x-rays and sit cramped in an airline seat for hours with nothing to eat but a tiny bag of peanuts. It’s totally worth it. Writing.

Mark: When did you learn to drive? Courtney: About three seconds ago.

Not just chubby fat, I’m talkin’ gordo.

I stood on the street, staring up at the most normal-looking house in the world. My house. I’d lived there my entire life. It was home. It was safe. It was haunted. The only other explanation was that I was demented. I couldn’t say which I was rooting for.

It is much more fun to write about villains then heroes. The villains are the ones that think out the scheme, and the heroes just kind of come along for the ride.

I was disappointed in Coop. He hated being bored and so did I. He was always looking for different things to do and coming up with new adventures that kept us moving. That was his job. Trolling for girls at the beach was okay by me, but I didn’t want it to be our sole focus. Besides, the girls I liked had more interesting things to do than spend every waking moment sitting around at the beach comparing tans.