Pender laughed. "Verify? In this day and age? Who cares about verifying anything? It's all about the speed. Who gets there first defines the truth. You know that as well as any man living.

I'm ever curious about the world.

Libraries rock! Not a sermon, just a fact. As a kid I was a library rat and books changed my life. They can change yours.

But protagonists are protagonists and heroes are heroes.

People have given me classified information, but always with the disclaimer 'This can never end up in a book.' And it never does.

Because life doesn't work that way. You can do everything perfectly. Do everything you think you're supposed to be doing. Fulfill every expectation that other people may have. And you still won't get the results you think you deserve. Life is crazy and maddening and often makes no sense.

It's hard, Cotton. To let yourself love something you know you may never have.