Wayward Son (Simon Snow, #2)

by Rainbow Rowell

I was supposed to charm her. Some people do find me charming, believe it or not. When I was 18, I got a creek dryad to tell me her life story. She gave me mulberry cakes and dandelion wine. It’s the first time I ever got drunk.

This book is going to have a character from Omaha, damn it. And he’s going to be great. My earliest notes for Shepard were “Han Solo/Fox Mulder” -- someone’s who’s curious about everything, has been everywhere, and has gotten himself in and out of some tight spots. As he evolved, I started to think of Shep as the protagonist in every fairy tale. Like, what if the same guy met Rumpelstiltskin and also the Billy Goats Gruff? And now he’s meeting Simon Snow? I knew Shepard was going to be a Normal. And I knew he was going to drive Penny crazy.