When you start to really know someone, all his physical characteristics start to disappear. You begin to dwell in his energy, recognize the scent of his skin. You see only the essence of the person,not the shell. That's why you can't fall in love with beauty. You can lust after it, be infatuated by it, want to own it. You can love it with your eyes and body but not your heart. And that's why, when you really connect with a person's inner self, any physical imperfections disappear, become irrelevant.

When you're young it's easy to confuse passion for love.

It's strange how memory gets twisted and pulled like taffy in its retelling, how a single event can mean something different to everyone present.

There's nothing particularly dark in my past... I live in the light. My disposition is basically happy. I have a good life.

Alafair Burke is one of the finest young crime writers working today.

The worst violence we can do to each other often is psychological, especially in families. I dwell a lot on domestic danger. Thats the backdrop of most of my novels - what kind of damage is done without ever lifting a finger.

Many people believe that evil is the presence of something. I think it's the absence of something.