To be a writer is to embrace rejection as a way of life.

At the moment developing a nice little inoffensive cancer somewhere on dry land seemed infinitely preferable to what she was grimly convinced was soon to be her death by drowning way too far out at sea.

Where were they from originally? The Seabolts?" "I don't know, Idaho, Oklahoma, Iowa. One of those red-neck states with vowels on both ends." "You mean like Alaska?

Science fiction is the agent provocateur of literature.

Why was it that the instant you sent someone a check, no matter how worthy the organization, the first thing they did was ask you for more? Irritating, and a waste of the money she had just sent them.

That's some f***ing doorman you've got there, Ms. Shugak.

When you put four Alaskans into a room, you have five marriages, six divorces, and seven political parties.