“Sweet as cherries, bright as berries, light of my moony sky.” — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
We all just keep moving, September. We keep moving until we stop. — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“Autumn has a hungry heart - September is the beginning of death.” — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
The storm ate up September’s cry of despair, delighted at its mischief, as all storms are. — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
Her father’s shadow looked sadly down at her. “You can never forget what you do in a war, September my love. No… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
You cannot escape where you come from, September. Some part of it remains inside you always, like the slender white heart in… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
September could see it. She did not know what is was she saw. That is the disadvantage of being a heroine, rather… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“Why should I care about you first kiss,' he said. 'You can kiss anyone you like. But sometimes if you wanted to… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“Will you beat me if I say no?" he whispered fearfully. September thought she might cry. "Oh...oh dear. Not all the world… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“There is a place, September, oh, very far from Pandemonium. A place where it is always autumn, where there is always cider… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“Once upon a time, a girl named September grew very tired indeed of her parents’ house, where she washed the same pink-and-yellow… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
You and I, being grown-up and having lost our hearts at least twice or thrice along the way, might shut our eyes… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
Who are you?" "I am Death," said the creature. "I thought that was obvious." "But you're so small!" "Only because you are… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
September did not want to feel for the Marquess. That’s how villains get you, she knew. You feel badly for them, and… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
Her heart was bruised by the kiss, smashed and surprised and unsettled by it. September thought kisses were all nice, sweet things… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
I have made calculations that would beggar your soul. What is it that villains always say at the end of stories? You… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
Once more September marveled that even the Dodo knew what she wanted to be when she was grown. She simply could not… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“In stories, when someone appears in a poof of green clouds and asks a girl to go away on an adventure, it’s… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
Oh, September! It is so soon for you to lose your friends to good work and strange loves and high ambitions. The… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“I have missed you so much I could kiss you,” he whispered. September’s face fell. “Oh, but Saturday! I’ve had my First… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
September knew a number of curse words, most of which she heard the girls at school saying in the bathrooms, in hushed… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
I don’t want to be a Princess,” she said finally. “You can’t make me be one.” She knew very well what became… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
True names,” said September wonderingly. “These are all true names. Like, when your parents call you to dinner and you don’t come… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
That's Venus, September thought. She was the goddess of love. It's nice that love comes on first thing in the evening, and… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“How poor you are, September. You make my heart groan. I know about Homesickness. It begins with H. What will you do?” — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“September read often, and liked it best when words did not pretend to be simple, but put on their full armor and… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
September had never been betrayed before. She did not even know what to call the feeling in her chest, so bitter and… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
... but as has been said, September read often, and liked it best when words did not pretend to be simple, but… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
Hats change everything. September knew this with all her being, deep in the place where she knew her own name, and that… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“ Pandemic, Pangaea, Panacea, Panoply. Those were all big words, to be sure, but as has been said, September read often, and… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
She liked anything orange: leaves; some moons; marigolds; chrysanthemums; cheese; pumpkin, both in pie and out; orange juice; marmalade. Orange is bright… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
She put her hand on her chest. “I have magic yet. If you will set the clock working again, then I must… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
It’s been me all along,” said September slowly. “Me who gave up my shadow, me who went down into Fairyland-Below and Fairyland-Lower-Than-That… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
When I saw him I thought I could curl up inside him and go to sleep and never wake up." "Men are no good… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
We all just keep moving, September. We keep moving until we stop. — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“You couldn't ever really fix a sad story. You could only make another. And another. And another, until you found the right one at… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“He considers it for a moment and spits out the seeds, which sprout, quickly, into tiny junkblossoms sizzling with recursive algorithms. The algorithms wriggle… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“Truly, Mallow yearned to know everything. Curiosity was part of her, like her short blond hair and bitten fingernails.” — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“The cicada lies in the earth for seventeen years. It is warm and dark there, it is soft and wet. Its little legs curl… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
We all live inside the terrible engine of authority, and it grinds and shrieks and burns so that no one will say: lines on… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
Her heart was bruised by the kiss, smashed and surprised and unsettled by it. September thought kisses were all nice, sweet things asked for… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“September put her hand on the grip of the Rivet Gun. She’d only just gotten it, and she’d promised to take copious notes for… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
Just tell yourself a story that'll satisfy you and pretend he told it. — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
“You see, the future is a kind of stew, a soup, a vichyssoise of the present and the past. That's how you get the… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
Fairy tales have always been about getting through the worst of everything, the darkest and the deepest and the bloodiest of events. They are… — Catherynne M. Valente Copy Share Image
