I got into some trouble from some of the more rabid fans of J.K. Rowling for writing the first two Tiffany Aching books (The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky) which they hailed as an attack on J.K. herself. This is largely because of Granny Weatherwax�s comment that �You can�t learn magic out of books; you have to do it with skin�: a statement she first made in my book Equal Rites, long before Ms. Rowling delighted the world.
     But having got that out of the way, I have always been suspicious of easy magic, and the best writers in the field take the same view, it seems to me. It should be tough, it should be hard to learn, it should�be dangerous, and it should wear you down. Disney couldn�t possibly ever do a Tiffany book. Apart from anything else, I�m not sure how they could ever cope with the Feegles. Tiffany is smart but gets things wrong, and she became a witch not because she had a talent but out of a desire to right wrongs. Only on the rarest of occasions, such as at the very end of I Shall Wear Midnight, does she get one of those moments that pay for everything. I think that makes her far more real. I very much enjoyed her conversations with her father, who can hardly believe the things she takes in her stride. Tiffany �hangs in there,� always.