Quotes from Rachel Howzell Hall

UC Santa Cruz, home of the Fightin' Banana Slugs, was my alma mater. Sure, we had athletics and cheerleaders, but we were also Division 183 or something. So sports: yay?

Henry Ford inviting job candidates to dinner and watching them eat. He never hired the man who salted his food before tasting it.

Never blink while telling a tale. People will always believe you if you don't blink.

looked at me as though I were moments away from licking all the doorknobs at the Red Roof Inn.

Palm Springs, California. Located in the Sonoran Desert and only a two-hour drive from Los Angeles, Palm Springs boasts the world's largest rotating tramcars from the desert floor and up one of the steepest mountain ascents in the world. Palm Springs claims to have more swimming pools per capita than anywhere else in the country.

I press the yellow trunk-release button inside the Camaro's cabin.

Aileen Wuornos, Belle Gunness, and . . . A quick search on the internet gives me Juana Barraza, Jane Toppan, and Nannie Doss.

Y'know, I cut my finger on a mandoline once. I stole it, so I guess the universe said, 'Bitch, please.

Fresno, California, sits in the center of the San Joaquin Valley in the middle of the state. "Ash tree" in Spanish, Fresno is the closest major city to Yosemite National Park.

We warned you, Colette. You fucked around—and you found out.

Krispy Kreme's 'Hot Doughnuts' neon sign blinked but the store was empty. Who would want a hot, incredibly-delicious donut right now? No customers stood in line at Louisiana Fried Chicken either. Spicy food without a Mason's jar of cold lemonade? No thanks. The Liquor Bank's parking lot bustled with activity. Customers were leaving the store with brown bags probably filled with ice-cold beer, 7-Ups and bottled waters.

The sycamore trees that surround our house sway as the wind pushes in an oncoming storm now gathering off the coast.

Everyone lies, everyone leaves something out of the narrative.

I will canoodle with a dumb man, but I won't snuggle with an asshole.

She looks just as I imagined. Scuzzy blonde hair, blemished skin, mean eyes. A walking, sentient yeast infection.

Mickie, and watch yourself. Something's in the water.

My throat tightens and keeps me from telling her about the man in the coffee shop and the one at the plaza right now.

Be wary of a man who you don't want bringing you a cool towel when you're about to pass out from explosive diarrhea.

Maddy, with her earbuds in, works the handlebars of an elliptical

Guilt demands ransom even though you're broke, and it demands that you keep it company even though it's fused to every molecule in your body. Guilt makes you scream, "What more do you want?" even though it's already taken everything, including your happily ever after.

Dragonflies worked as sentries from the car to the front porch. Gray had never seen so many in her life.

Ash tree" in Spanish, Fresno is the closest major city to Yosemite National Park.