It’s all very well for such a person to whine and moan and criticize other family members, but they won’t let anyone else do it. That’s when you get your back up and show loyalty.

I looked at myself in that window, oblivious to all the people around me and I stared and smiled that particular smile. You know that smile that seems to knock you and tell you how pathetic you are? That's the smile I was smiling.

Everything was good. But it was awful, too.

There were people everywhere on the city street, but the stranger could not have been more alone if it were empty.

My arms are killing me. I didn't know words could be so heavy.

The last time I saw her was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places, it was burned. There were black crumbs, and pepper, streaked across the redness.

The beauty of my work is that my sets cost nothing. That's what I love about being a writer of novels.