A writer, like a sheriff, is the embodiment of a group of people and without their support both are in a tight spot.

Temptation out of reach does you no good.

I looked over at her; if women knew how good they looked in the dash light of oversized pickup trucks, they'd never get out of them.

It was the second time that day that I stood looking at a space where a large thing wasn't where it was supposed to be.

If there's a character type I despise, it's the all-capable, all-knowing, physically perfect protagonist. My idea of hell would be to be trapped in a four-hundred page, first-person, first-tense, running monologue with a character like that. I think writers who produce characters along those lines should graduate from high school and move on.

Artists are always good for conversation, so long as you want to talk about their art.

He mulled that over. "Sheriff Connally woulda let us shoot 'em." I reached over and took his coffee away from him. "Yep. Lucian probably would have done the job himself, but we're living in more enlightened times." I drained his cup and handed it back with a smile. "Ain't it grand?