Babe,' Ranger said. 'Do something with her.' And he disconnected. I called Ranger back. 'No,' I said. 'And I need information on Jelly Kantner. His apartment got blown up, and I need to find him.' And I should do this why?' Because you like me.' There was a full beat of silence. 'I do,' Ranger said. 'I like you a lot. Sometimes I'm not sure why. Give me a couple minutes.

I have bad car juju." -Stephanie Plum

I disconnected and made a mental note not to call Tank unless I was bleeding profusely, and he was the only other person on earth.

Respect and love your readers. Write for the reader.

You owe me!" -Stephanie "Why do I owe you?" -Joe "I caught your no good cousin." -Stephanie "Yeah and in the process you burned down a funeral home, and damaged thousands of dollars of government property." -Joe "Well if you are going to be picky about it...." -Stephanie

Make sure your main characters are likeable. They can be flawed, but your readers need to be able to root for them.

Some people learn from books, some listen to the advice of others, some learn from mistakes. I fit into the last category. So sue me.