“
The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.
”
”
Oscar Wilde
“
There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects. What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time.
”
”
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (Slaughterhouse-Five)
“
Life is like a novel. It's filled with suspense. You have no idea what is going to happen until you turn the page.
”
”
Sidney Sheldon
“
Rejection is an opportunity for your selection.
”
”
Bernard Branson
“
Things'll get worse before they get better.
”
”
Karen M. McManus (One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1))
“
She stabbed the earth with her big fork as if she could make Cookie Mac’s blood sprout from it.
”
”
Susan Rowland (The Alchemy Fire Murder (Mary Wandwalker #2))
“
Any war that requires the suspension of reason as a necessity for support is a bad war.
”
”
Norman Mailer
“
Yes, she's bleeding to death upstairs, but I thought I'd avoid telling you right away, because I like to draw the suspense out.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4))
“
Have you ever met someone for the first time, but in your heart you feel as if you’ve met them before?
”
”
JoAnne Kenrick (When A Mullo Loves A Woman (Pearl Kizzy, #1))
“
Never Let anyone tell you that you can't; show them that you can.
”
”
Gloria Mallette
“
The more you love,the more love you have to give.It's the only feeling we have which is infinite...
”
”
Christina Westover (Precipice)
“
Mary’s hands clenched. She’d been through fire, what with a murder, and white supremacists. And what about Caroline, who had gone undercover to rescue the Scroll’s Key Keeper? Where were the College’s thanks for that?
”
”
Susan Rowland (The Alchemy Fire Murder (Mary Wandwalker #2))
“
But this Scroll too has magical properties. From the moment I first saw it, the paper warmed to my touch. I know it came alive as I held it. Did you know there’s a serpent on the back? Some say it’s a dragon. It winked at me. Its lashes are gold.
”
”
Susan Rowland (The Alchemy Fire Murder (Mary Wandwalker #2))
“
He desperately tried to think of a story to explain his involvement in her sudden appearance, without mentioning the book of magic in his possession.
”
”
Max Nowaz (The Three Witches and the Master)
“
I held my heart back from positively accepting anything, since I was afraid of another fall, and in this condition of suspense I was being all the more killed.
”
”
Augustine of Hippo (Confessions)
“
He says it was tourists being careless, where I see a fiendishly clever murder attempt.”
“Mr. McCarthy, you’d better explain.”
“Patrick, please. You’ll be tempted to laugh. It was a banana skin.
”
”
Susan Rowland (Murder on Family Grounds (Mary Wandwalker #3))
“
The softness, warmth and weight of her breast filled his palm. “I’ve imagined this for weeks,” he murmured. Thinking of her out there on the battlefield. In his tent. What more could a woman want? Quite a lot, actually.
”
”
Yvonne Korshak (Pericles and Aspasia: A Story of Ancient Greece)
“
Mary fought a savage impulse to slam the door on the couple. But they were too interesting to ignore in the circumstances of the murder. She caught sight of Richard spitting out a mouthful of hair.
”
”
Susan Rowland (Murder on Family Grounds (Mary Wandwalker #3))
“
He wanted a stiff drink to get through the evening, for he knew they’d be wailing, and her family coming unglued.
”
”
Carolyn M. Bowen (Legacy of Shadows: An International Crime Thriller (The Family Legacy Series))
“
When would he learn that women never stayed where you put them?
”
”
Maya Banks (Hidden Away (KGI, #3))
“
Falconers,” she continued, sternly. “Pull yourselves together. People are dying. The police don’t have the family history to solve murders forty years apart.
”
”
Susan Rowland (Murder on Family Grounds (Mary Wandwalker #3))
“
Mary tried to look reassuring. “It’s a house party, he said,” she directed at the Falconers, “Sir Viktor’s holding a house party for the convenience of the police. It’s like an old-fashioned mystery novel.
”
”
Susan Rowland (Murder on Family Grounds (Mary Wandwalker #3))
“
Listen carefully. I'd crush you like a bug for causing my wife one single moment of pain. Believe it. Fear it.
”
”
J.D. Robb
“
I’m a soldier,’ Nathan said. ‘We’re all soldiers, now. Soldiers don’t leave people behind.
”
”
Barry Kirwan (When the children come (Children of the Eye, #1))
“
There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human's mind against the Enemy. He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.
”
”
C.S. Lewis (The Screwtape Letters)
“
Books are keys that open many doors.
”
”
James Rollins
“
Where’s everybody? I thought you had started production.”
“They’ve got a day off, but don’t worry you’ll see the machinery is here.”
But Brown was worried. As they entered the canteen, the lights came on
automatically. There was nobody there.
“What’s going…...” but he never finished the sentence. Brown felt a sharp pain on the
side of his head and everything went black.
”
”
Max Nowaz (The Arbitrator)
“
Learn to distinguish the difference between errors of knowledge and breaches of morality. An error of knowledge is not a moral flaw, provided you are willing to correct it; only a mystic would judge human beings by the standard of an impossible, automatic omniscience. But a breach of morality is the conscious choice of an action you know to be evil, or a willful evasion of knowledge, a suspension of sight and of thought. That which you do not know, is not a moral charge against you; but that which you refuse to know, is an account of infamy growing in your soul. Make every allowance for errors of knowledge; do not forgive or accept any break of morality.
”
”
Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged)
“
Life was better than he expected with his new Italian family inheritance, and it felt good to take a deep breath without fear of someone attacking him or his family.
”
”
Carolyn M. Bowen (Legacy of Shadows: An International Crime Thriller (The Family Legacy Series Book 2))
“
Do as little harm to others as you can; make any sacrifice for your true friends; be responsible for yourself and ask nothing of others; and grab all the fun you can. Don't give much thought to yesterday, don't worry about tomorrow, live in the moment, and trust that your existence has meaning even when the world seems to be all blind chance and chaos. When life lands a hammer blow in your face, do your best to respond to the hammer as if it had been a cream pie.
”
”
Dean Koontz
“
If
"If freckles were lovely, and day was night,
And measles were nice and a lie warn't a lie,
Life would be delight,--
But things couldn't go right
For in such a sad plight
I wouldn't be I.
If earth was heaven and now was hence,
And past was present, and false was true,
There might be some sense
But I'd be in suspense
For on such a pretense
You wouldn't be you.
If fear was plucky, and globes were square,
And dirt was cleanly and tears were glee
Things would seem fair,--
Yet they'd all despair,
For if here was there
We wouldn't be we.
”
”
E.E. Cummings
“
George’s utterance of the nest and the trap belonged to a bigger mystery she did not yet understand. One day I will, she promised herself. She would stake her life that those last words from her son would be solved by her. They were steppingstones into… whatever the wind and the stars and the valiant trees held for her.
”
”
Susan Rowland (Murder on Family Grounds (Mary Wandwalker #3))
“
I told you she was doing all four of 'em.
”
”
Kyle Keyes (Under the Bus)
“
So, you do speak English. That makes sense now.” Catherine said, shaking her head.
“Of course, I speak English. I’m from Australia, not Tanzania.
”
”
Diane Merrill Wigginton (A Compromising Position)
“
Donde, he offered a piece of candy to a little
boy.
”
”
Kyle Keyes (Under the Bus)
“
She was a ray of sunshine, a warm summer rain, a bright fire on a cold winter’s day, and now she could be dead because she had tried to save the man she loved.
”
”
Grace Willows
“
He ran his thumb over my lower lip, sending a flurry of sparks through me. "Good-bye, Sophie." -Cal
”
”
Rachel Hawkins (Demonglass (Hex Hall, #2))
“
Often I felt like two people. One went into the world and did the living for the other, who was stuck in an endless moment of knowing. Yesterday was today and hereon in.
”
”
Michael Wyndham Thomas (The Erkeley Shadows)
“
Are you really a reporter?” asked Brown.
“You already asked me that. Come back to Levita, take the pardon.”
“I doubt I’ll live long enough to get there,” said Brown bitterly.
“I hope you survive. You are a fighter. And we have the antidote for your habit on
Levita. I suggest you take a vacation. There’s nothing much that’s going to happen here.”
With that she left, leaving Brown more confused than ever.
He was a father, he had a son. And, the Levitians had a cure for his drug-addled body.
”
”
Max Nowaz (The Arbitrator)
“
One thing, though, was for sure – here I was, alive, healthy but as unquiet in my way as they were in theirs. Transcendent equality. You’ve got to love it.
”
”
Michael Wyndham Thomas (The Erkeley Shadows)
“
She could see the headlines now.
‘Spinster dies alone in her condo. No one discovered her corpse for three days.’
She had been so preoccupied with work, that she’d neglected to do the grocery shopping and was now regretting it.
”
”
Diane Merrill Wigginton (A Compromising Position)
“
Nothing looked disturbed…yet everything felt that way. The guy was on the bed, calmness itself, as though he’d decided on a moment’s lie-down and just zizzed off.
”
”
Michael Wyndham Thomas (The Erkeley Shadows)
“
She, as no other ever could, reached every corner of his heart. His joy, and his salvation.
”
”
J.D. Robb
“
Roarke: The bodies of the three men were found floating in the Chattahoochee River.
Eve: I think it'd be embarrassing to be dead in the Hoochie-Coochie River.
Roarke: Chattahoochee
Eve: What's the difference?
Roarke: Quite a bit, I'd think.
”
”
J.D. Robb (Promises in Death (In Death, #28))
“
Stand in the machine there, let’s see what state your internal organs are in. The images
will be projected on screen, and I can go through the diagnosis with you, step by step.”
Brown did as he was told and soon images of his vital organs appeared on the screen.
As you can see, your heart is slightly enlarged and your lungs and kidneys are not in
good shape either. Have you been experiencing any pain lately?”
“Not that I can think of. What can you do to help?”
“Difficult to say, you see you are dying” said the Doctor. You can see the
discolouration in your kidneys.” Brown strained his eyes.
”
”
Max Nowaz (The Arbitrator)
“
I’ll tell the Chief and he’ll squash you like the little flea-ridden castrated cock you are.
”
”
A.G. Russo (The Cases Nobody Wanted (O'Shaughnessy Investigations Inc. Mystery Series Book 1))
“
Everybody is equally weak on the inside, just that some present their ruins as new castles and become kings –
”
”
Simona Panova (Nightmarish Sacrifice (Cardew))
“
I wanted to thank you for saving my life. I am still puzzled about your motives
though. Was it revenge against Zedan for rejecting you?”
“You insult me. It seems that you think of everybody in the same lowly terms you
think of yourself. If there is anybody I should hate for Zedan rejecting me, it should be
you. He was only doing what is expected of him in our society.”
“You mean you don't hate me?” This was a new revelation to Brown. It worried him.
He was used to hate, he could deal with it, but this he could not understand, he had used
the girl ruthlessly and yet she did not hate him.
”
”
Max Nowaz (The Arbitrator)
“
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
”
”
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
“
As the taxi entered the intersection, the two drivers in the attorney general’s entourage slammed on the brakes. Both Suburbans fishtailed out of control. Ducking in the back seat, Blake could smell the burning rubber from tires skidding on the asphalt and hear the pedestrians screaming and car horns sounding off in rebuke.
”
”
Chad Boudreaux (Scavenger Hunt)
“
Bodies’, she said. ‘Lots of them’. She glanced over her shoulder to where Sally was hidden, then back to Nathan, and whispered. ‘Small ones’.
”
”
Barry Kirwan (When the children come (Children of the Eye, #1))
“
Limiting one’s desires actually helps to cure one of fear. ‘Cease to hope … and you will cease to fear.’ … Widely different [as fear and hope] are, the two of them march in unison like a prisoner and the escort he is handcuffed to. Fear keeps pace with hope … both belong to a mind in suspense, to a mind in a state of anxiety through looking into the future. Both are mainly due to projecting our thoughts far ahead of us instead of adapting ourselves to the present.
”
”
Seneca (Letters from a Stoic)
“
We’re not very good at peace, not really. War is in our nature,’ he said.
‘Men’s nature,’ she corrected.
”
”
Barry Kirwan (When the children come (Children of the Eye, #1))
“
For the thousandth time, Nathan wondered why you didn’t need some kind of basic parenting skills certificate to have kids.
”
”
Barry Kirwan (When the children come (Children of the Eye, #1))
“
I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said, hugging him closely. She knew better than to ask for details. He almost never talked about the difficult parts of his police work. He said that he didn’t want to bring that home with him.
”
”
Mike Martin (Too Close For Comfort: The Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series Book 15)
“
You’ve enlarged your original mission parameters. That’s what happens in war.
”
”
Barry Kirwan (When the children come (Children of the Eye, #1))
“
Sally wiped the blood from Anderson’s mouth with her sleeve. She spoke to him, but also loud enough for all to hear. ‘Go find your son, Mr Anderson. This is our war now.
”
”
Barry Kirwan (When the children come (Children of the Eye, #1))
“
I’m not convinced we can take them out from a distance, Nathan. That’s always been the American solution, by the way. Bigger guns. Nukes. Drone strikes.
”
”
Barry Kirwan (When the children come (Children of the Eye, #1))
“
We might even make this after all,’ he hollered, but the craft didn’t reply.
”
”
A.R. Merrydew (Inara (Godfrey Davis, #3))
“
The moment you stop chasing happiness, you become happy.
”
”
Sandy Hyatt-James
“
The computer began to titter. ‘Well it’s a long story honey, but the concise version is this. Talalia has been a bad girl. She was grounded for six months after her last trip.
”
”
A.R. Merrydew (Inara (Godfrey Davis, #3))
“
I can imagine,’ laughed Bab’s. ‘It’s not every day of the week you meet a female lizard with nail varnish, lipstick and the scent of Channel Number Five.
”
”
A.R. Merrydew (Inara (Godfrey Davis, #3))
“
It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Ito finally, who had been keeping very quiet
up to this point.
“Indeed. How much will it cost?” asked Brown
“About twenty million Interplanetary Credits,” said Demba. “A modest investment for
a man of your means.”
“Indeed,” said Brown again. That was all the money he had, which started to strike
him as strange, when his thoughts were interrupted.
“We’ll arrange a visit to the mine,” said Ito. “Show you the place itself.”
“Indeed,” said Brown. Or had he said that? The strange waking memory he had fallen
into started to become repetitive. Reality started to flow back in.
Diamonds, thought Brown. All those diamonds in that mine.
”
”
Max Nowaz (The Arbitrator)
“
We strive for harmony, but it is not always realized.
”
”
C. Toni Graham (Crossroads and the Himalayan Crystals (Crossroads, #1))
“
If any of them fail me, I will flush them from an airlock into the pit of space, like an unwanted turd. Do I make myself clear?
”
”
A.R. Merrydew (Inara (Godfrey Davis, #3))
“
This is your last chance, and I mean it. Now get me to my ship,’ he told the device. A moment later he vanished from the Grand Plaza, and the mayhem that still continued unabated.
”
”
A.R. Merrydew (Inara (Godfrey Davis, #3))
“
He would at least be remembered in his cultures history books. Destroying two of his emperors revered structures, on the same day, would not go unmentioned.
”
”
A.R. Merrydew (Inara (Godfrey Davis, #3))
“
Well at least one of you present here today, has the scaly green balls to give me an honest answer,’ he said, as he broke into a hearty lizard laugh.
”
”
A.R. Merrydew (Inara (Godfrey Davis, #3))
“
Eve: What is it about asking you Catholic questions that gets you all jumpy?
Roarke: You'd be jumpy, too, if I asked you things that make you feel the hot breath of hell at your back.
Eve: You're not going to hell.
Roarke: Oh, and have you got some inside intel on that?
Eve: You married a cop...you married me. I'm your goddamn salvation.
”
”
J.D. Robb (Salvation in Death (In Death, #27))
“
It doesn’t matter. I love you. That’s it. That’s all. I hope to hell it’s enough.
”
”
Maya Banks (No Place to Run (KGI, #2))
“
Do you want to live, Sander?
”
”
Alan Bradley (The Sixth Borough)
“
Nathan ran a palm over his forehead. He was on a mission with Taliban terrorists. His old sarge would be puking in his grave. He’d always maintained that the enemy of your enemy was still your fucking enemy.
”
”
Barry Kirwan (When the children come (Children of the Eye, #1))
“
Amazing, isn’t it? You have the intelligence to navigate some unfathomable distance across the void. And yet you are too dim to understand the language of the species you encounter upon your arrival.
”
”
A.R. Merrydew (Inara (Godfrey Davis, #3))
“
I'm giving serious thought into eating yor wife” - Hannibal Lecter
”
”
Thomas Harris
“
The suspense: the fearful, acute suspense: of standing idly by while the life of one we dearly love, is trembling in the balance; the racking thoughts that crowd upon the mind, and make the heart beat violently, and the breath come thick, by the force of the images they conjure up before it; the desperate anxiety to be doing something to relieve the pain, or lessen the danger, which we have no power to alleviate; the sinking of soul and spirit, which the sad remembrance of our helplessness produces; what tortures can equal these; what reflections of endeavours can, in the full tide and fever of the time, allay them!
”
”
Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist)
“
Nathan had to admit it was a highly effective war strategy. You didn’t need an army; just a way to turn the native, indigenous creatures against each other, wait until there was no serious resistance, and then move right in.
”
”
Barry Kirwan (When the children come (Children of the Eye, #1))
“
Postmen have a legendary aura. A ring at the doorbell may inflame a sense of expectation, suspense, secrecy, hazard or even intrigue. Ringing twice may imply a warning that trouble is on the way or an appeal to make the coast clear. Not all mailmen, though, will ring twice and await an eye-catching Lana Turner, whom they can whisper: "With my brains and your looks, we could go places.” ("The postman always rings twice")
”
”
Erik Pevernagie
“
I was not prepared: sunset, end of summer. Demonstrations
of time as a continuum, as something coming to an end,
not a suspension: the senses wouldn’t protect me.
I caution you as I was never cautioned:
you will never let go, you will never be satiated.
You will be damaged and scarred, you will continue to hunger.
Your body will age, you will continue to need.
You will want the earth, then more of the earth–
Sublime, indifferent, it is present, it will not respond.
It is encompassing, it will not minister.
Meaning, it will feed you, it will ravish you,
it will not keep you alive.
”
”
Louise Glück (The Seven Ages)
“
Statues are too much like dolls, and dolls are creepy. You keep expecting them to blink. And the ones that smile, like this?" Eve kept her lips tight together and she curved them up. "You know they've got teeth in there. Big, sharp, shiny teeth."
I didn't. But now I've got to worry about it.
”
”
J.D. Robb (Salvation in Death (In Death, #27))
“
Ok, first things first,’ said Amercron assertively, ‘Bab’s where are we exactly?’
There was another of those silences, which in his current adrenalin fuelled state, he hadn’t the patience for. ‘Well?’
‘Well Honey, were in space.
”
”
A.R. Merrydew (Inara (Godfrey Davis, #3))
“
Oh, he did look like a deity – the perfect balance of danger and charm, he was at the same time fascinating and inaccessible, distant because of his demonstrated flawlessness, and possessing such strength of character that he was dismaying and at the same time utterly attractive in an enticing and forbidden way.
”
”
Simona Panova (Nightmarish Sacrifice (Cardew))
“
It was then, that the most ridiculous idea in the entire history of the universe entered his cranium. He had absolutely no idea where it came from. He blinked several times, at the magnitude of its absurdity.
”
”
A.R. Merrydew (Inara (Godfrey Davis, #3))
“
They say that when you're about to die, your life flashes before your eyes. They never tell you that when you watch someone you once loved dying, hovering between this life and the next, it's twice as painful, because you're reliving two lives that traveled one road together.
”
”
Becca Fitzpatrick (Black Ice)
“
What do you want, MacGuffin, a duel?”
“No.” Julian held out both hands, one palm flat, the other held over it in a fist. “Rock, paper, scissors. Two out of three.”
Ty rolled his eyes and held out his fist, apparently willing to play. Julian hit his palm three times, and Ty kept time with his fist in the air. But when Julian threw a paper, Ty reached into his jacket with his other hand and pulled his gun, aiming it at Julian.
“Ty!” Zane said in exasperation from the front seat.
“Glock, paper, scissors. I win.”
“You are an ass,” Julian muttered.
”
”
Abigail Roux (Armed & Dangerous (Cut & Run, #5))
“
They came for him near midnight, seven hard-faced men arriving simultaneously in a matching set of Zis 101s, the black-lacquered saloon car so shamelessly modeled on the American Buick Roadmaster, and so capriciously favored by the sinister flying squads of the NKVD.
Ironically, the arrest when it came did not shock Batya. He had prepared for it.
”
”
K.G.E. Konkel (Who Has Buried the Dead?: From Stalin to Putin … The last great secret of World War Two)
“
There is a distinct difference between "suspense" and "surprise," and yet many pictures continually confuse the two. I'll explain what I mean.
We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let's suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, "Boom!" There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: "You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!"
In the first case we have given the public fifteen seconds of surprise at the moment of the explosion. In the second we have provided them with fifteen minutes of suspense. The conclusion is that whenever possible the public must be informed. Except when the surprise is a twist, that is, when the unexpected ending is, in itself, the highlight of the story.
”
”
Alfred Hitchcock
“
We modern people think of miracles as the suspension of the natural order, but Jesus meant them to be the restoration of the natural order. The Bible tells us that God did not originally make the world to have disease, hunger, and death in it. Jesus has come to redeem where it is wrong and heal the world where it is broken. His miracles are not just proofs that he has power but also wonderful foretastes of what he is going to do with that power. Jesus' miracles are not just a challenge to our minds, but a promise to our hearts, that the world we all want is coming.
”
”
Timothy J. Keller (The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism)
“
He knew what he was doing – justifying an atrocity. But in war, that’s what always happened. Your red lines – those you swore to defend at all costs when you signed up – shifted, until finally none worth fighting for remained. PTSD wasn’t just about what happened to you; it was about what you did.
”
”
Barry Kirwan (When the children come (Children of the Eye, #1))
“
Favorite Quotations.
I speak my mind because it hurts to bite my tongue.
The worth of a book is measured by what you carry away from it.
It's not over till it's over.
Imagination is everything.
All life is an experiment.
What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls the butterfly.
”
”
Pat Frayne (Tales of Topaz the Conjure Cat: Part I Topaz and the Evil Wizard & Part II Topaz and the Plum-Gista Stone)
“
Attractive, blonde, skinny, a little slutty, and… well, I kind of talked to her about you. She’s already keen. You should be able to slide straight into second base.’ Mags laughed again. Nathan didn’t. It had been a while. And then some. He glanced over to the wardrobe. Maybe the dark blue shirt.
”
”
Barry Kirwan (When the children come (Children of the Eye, #1))
“
No one else could share his quandary. His agonies were a mixture of shame, of loss fueled by profoundly rooted fury—solitary burdens he had carried with him like pockets of sorrow weighing him down, forcing him to become stronger. When the Devil was gnawing at him, he’d withstood the pain.
”
”
Tom Baldwin (Macom Farm)
“
Time and space are incalculable, there measure is infinite. The formulas that explicate their workings, have all but been explained away. But there is one thing that remains, and always will.
‘The occurrence of events in the absence of any obvious intention or cause.’
Chance.
”
”
A.R. Merrydew (Inara (Godfrey Davis, #3))
“
We've made a beautiful mess of things lately, haven't we?" He flashed that sexy crooked smile at me, which made my heart flutter.
"But it's our crazy story," "It's been ours, only ours. There's been a lot of romance, sometimes way too much drama..." "very memorable comedy, a few pulse-racing action scenes..."
"We've also had our fair share of suspense and raw terror, and unfortunately gut-wrenching heartache too."
"I think we've covered it all, everything except fo being captured by aliens!"
"But through it all you've loved me unconditionally, and I know how fortunate I am to have your love. I don't want to live without you, not for one more minute, not for one more second. I want to spend the rest of my days living my story with you...only you."
"It is here that I fell in love with you"
"And as fate would have it, it is here that I humbly kneel before you and ask you to be my wife.
”
”
Tina Reber (Love Unscripted (Love, #1))
“
True to course, he didn’t know the nature of the assignment; true to course, he didn’t ask. That was probably for the best. Preparation for the Iranian hostage extraction had been difficult, and its execution life-threatening, but that was child’s play compared to what was coming.
”
”
Chad Boudreaux
“
We raced around, drinking and shouting out the windows into the night, finding parties to sneak into or bars that never closed. We wandered the night without fear, went skinny dipping in Central Park Lake at 3 a.m., and found dark clubs playing deafening EDM to dance to until we collapsed.
”
”
Alan Bradley (The Sixth Borough)
“
Whereas during those months of separation time had never gone quickly enough for their liking and they were wanting to speed its flight, now that they were in sight of the town they would have liked to slow it down and hold each moment in suspense, once the breaks went on and the train was entering the station. For the sensation, confused perhaps, but none the less poingant for that, of all those days and weeks and months of life lost to their love made them vaguely feel they were entitled to some compensation; this present hour of joy should run at half the speed of those long hours of waiting.
”
”
Albert Camus (The Plague)
“
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.
”
”
J.D. Robb (Kindred in Death (In Death, #29))
“
A scream pierced the sky, a child’s, so loud he dropped his cup, his right hand ready to reach for a weapon that wasn’t there. A survival reflex from another city, another part of the world. He tried to relax, but the scream had been real. Not like the whining wail he loathed, not even the shocked cry of a kid who’d just hurt himself. This scream had mortal fear in it. After three tours in Afghanistan, he knew the difference.
”
”
Barry Kirwan (When the children come (Children of the Eye, #1))
“
He used his large shoulders and movements to impose his dominance over others as he strutted around but his facial expressions were a giveaway to people like Maeve who was born into a gritty group of native born fighting Irish. While many saw him as a man who worked his way up to power and influence and attained success that others fail to achieve, she saw him as a sham. He didn’t acquire loyalty by goodwill, but by corruption, fear, and loathing.
”
”
A.G. Russo (The Cases Nobody Wanted (O'Shaughnessy Investigations Inc. Mystery Series Book 1))
“
Now lend me your ears. Here is Creative Writing 101:
1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
The greatest American short story writer of my generation was Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964). She broke practically every one of my rules but the first. Great writers tend to do that.
”
”
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.