Shrek the deleted scene

One day, I was watching a deleted scene from Shrek. It was about Jafar and Fiona. They had a fight in a swamp. Jafar came back with this huge knife and Fiona threw it over his shoulder and Jafar fell down. He was very angry but after taking off his clothes Fiona grabbed her knife and stabbed him in the back. He killed himself. What I took from that scene and the others is to not give up when you're afraid. I don't like to feel sad but there is something magical about letting go when you're afraid.

I don't know how many people don't read fantasy that much. But they will read it if they love it, and if they love it for its story and characters then they'll always read it. It just takes some time for that. It's like I said, when I read it I think about how much I love my mother. It's more that it does capture that family of mine — the relationship between love and hate, sadness, and strength— and you can see that in this story. It's about love. It's about the dark side. You need to be careful not to allow the light side to overshadow what you're really afraid of.

Nolan Murphy is the author of the new novel, "The First Day My Boy Has a Boy", available now at the W.W. Norton Bookshop. It is the story of three little kids growing up together in Los Angeles.