He stared at her, knowing with certainty that he was falling in love. He pulled her close and kissed her beneath a blanket of stars, wondering how on earth he'd been lucky enough to find her.

You can't live your life for other people. You've got to do what's right for you, even if it hurts some people you love.

I have certain moral parameters that I do not cross in writing; I don't write about adultery or kids having premarital sex.

i'm sorry she never got her miracle. she did get her miracle, Landon, her miracle was you.

there were moments in life when violence was necessary to save lives

In time, the hurt began to fade and it was easier to just let it go. At least I thought it was. But in every boy I met in the next few years, I found myself looking for you, and when the feelings got too strong, I'd write you another letter. But I never sent them for fear of what I might find. By then, you'd gone on with your life and I didn't want to think about you loving someone else. I wanted to remember us like we were that summer. I didn't ever want to lose that.

because the past was always around her and might return at any time. It prowled the world searching for her, and she knew it was growing angrier at every passing day.