Let the warriors clamor after gods of blood and thunder; love is hard, harder than steel and thrice as cruel.

Soon never comes soon enough to a young child.

Spontaneity is the province of youth

Love child!" What else? You will find it and lose it, again and again. And with each finding and each loss, you will become more than before. What you make of it is yours to choose.

Why is there ever this perverse cruelty in humankind, that makes us hurt most those we love best?

It's funny, because in deference to conventional wisdom, I spent my struggling writer years trying to suppress my naturally baroque literary voice and write clean, spare prose. I finally gave up and embraced my baroque tendencies when I wrote the Kushiel series.

Let the warriors clamor after gods of blood and thunder; love is hard, harder than steel and thrice as cruel.