Quotes from Nancy Werlin

Leo and Soledad simultaneously gave out a sort of half laugh, half snort. It was loud, and it was relieved, and it broke the tension and caused Pierre to bark again, indignantly. All of which meant that neither of them heard it when Zach turned to Lucy in that same second and whispered: There's something else you need to know. I'm not just your friend. I am completely in love with you.

Always remember: In the end, the surviver gets to tell the story.

Music links us humans, heart to heart...Across time and space, and life and death.

Besides, Southerners are hospitable. They'll probably offer me lemonade. Excuse me? You're going to sit on a porch and drink lemonade while I plow a swamp with a goat's horn? Yes, ma'am. And I aim to wear my seamless shirt while you do it.

Such a bad mistake it would be, to embark on marriage and adult life without a nice supply of duct tape.

Emmy, the events we lived through taught me to be sure of nothing about other people. They taught me to expect danger around every corner. They taught me to understand that there are people in this world that mean you harm, And sometimes, they're the people who say they love you.

The human instinct for self-preservation is strong. I know, because mine pulls at me, too, like the needle on a compass. And everybody - I've been reading some philosophy - everybody seems to agree that the instinct and responsibility of all humans is to take care of themselves first. You have the right to self-defense. You have the right to survive, if you can.

Nothing that had happened in the past could be taken away. This was an amazing gift. The past was done and over and settled; you couldn't get it back, but still, whatever good you had gotten from it, spiritually, emotionally, would be yours for your lifetime.

From all of us Scarborough girls, greetings and thanks. This task required two, working together, trusting each other. It required the us, not the I. For that is true love, is it not?

But I know that I'm not who I was supposed to be. Who I could have been. And I know it's because I was too afraid for too long.

People who're nuts never doubt their own sanity. (The Killer's Cousin)

Zach found himself remembering something he'd heard Soledad and Leo saying the previous night, about healing. That it was mysterious. That it took time. And that Lucy was just at the beginning. That a terrible thing had happened - two terrible things, really - but they were now over. And that Lucy would be okay, in the end.

Anyone in this world can have the power of life and death over someone else. It's horrible, but true. All you need to do is take it. And once you have -- there is no going back. (The Killer's Cousin)

You can be special without being extraordinary.

What you did was enough, I said. We didn't need a superhero. Just an adult who acted to help us when I asked.

There is nothing in this world that I want or need, but you.

Such a bad mistake it would be, to embark on marriage and adult life without a nice supply of duct tape.

You start thinking about a character in a new book, of course you're going to think pretty soon, 'Well, what's their secret? What is their problem?' Maybe, 'What is their secret?' is another way of saying, 'What is their problem?' There's got to be some issue, or you've got a totally boring book!

No matter how beautiful and loved a cover may be, the jury on it remains uncommitted until the book has been in the world for a while. Perhaps bookstore buyers will be indifferent. Perhaps it will be lost on store shelves. Perhaps there's another book or two out there using the same or a similar photo.

I used to want covers that represented the book's contents very closely and were also pretty. Many folks automatically believe that this is what makes a good cover. But I've changed my mind about this. While the cover should not lie (by implication or outright), its job is simply to say: 'Pick me up!' to someone who might like the book.

It is absolutely okay with me if you need to keep some secrets. I've been thinking about this and I decided that a best friend is someone who, when they don't understand, they still understand.

I walked out. I left. Andy Jankowski had taught me how.

As long as I live, when you need help, you will never need to beg anyone to notice. I won't just hang around thinking I ought to do something to help. I will act.

Lucy had to guard her reputation - her reputation for sanity - the way that a woman a hundred years before would have had to guard her reputation for virtue.