I generally write a first draft that's pretty lean. Just get the story down.

Have I missed a national holiday? There must be celebrations in the streets for you to be home at this hour of the day." "I'm calling it Summerset Goes Mute Day. The city's gone mad with joy.

Roarke: You'd enjoy flying more if you'd learn the controls. Eve: I'd rather pretend I'm on the ground. Roarke: And how many vehicles have you wrecked, had blown up, or destroyed in the last, oh, two years? Eve: Think about that, then imagine it happening when I'm at the wheel at thirty thousand feet. Roarke: Good point. I'll do the flying.

...those who love suffer when who they love suffers.

I don't base any character on a real person, and really don't do composites either. I make them up.

She was singed, bleeding, bruised, and furiously alive.

Tell him I took the cat