You have a talent that comes from inside you, from your heart, not your fingers. What you have can’t ever go away. It’s what other people only dream about. You’re an artist.

I'm sure you think that I don't understand what you're going through, but I do. It's just that sometimes, our future is dictated by what we are, opposed to what we want.

I've made the decision to adhere to three general truths when it comes to my novels: There will be a love-story element to the story, the novel will be set in eastern North Carolina, and the characters will be likeable. Then, I make each novel unique through differences in voice, perspective, age and personalities of the characters, and of course, plot.

She was a stranger now, but she'd been a friend once, and that was enough for him.

My daddy said, that the first time you fall in love, it changes you forever and no matter how hard you try, that feeling just never goes away.

I know it can't be the same between us, but that doesn't change the way I felt about you then.

Life, he decided, was for living, not for having, and he wanted to experience every moment that he could.