"If he didn't hate me so much and he wasn't an evil supernatural being, I'd be on him like black on Cookie's toast.That woman could not make toast."

"I'm currently unsupervised It frisks me out too but the possibilities are endless."

"I learn from everything I do, right and wrong. I think it helps me grow as a writer and a person."

"Any time a beloved character is killed off, it affects the audience in a very powerful way, especially in a series."

"While the goal of a book is to create a positive emotional experience for the reader, the goal of the opening is to set the stage, to pull the reader in."

"Amber was busy flirting with a rookie named Dead Meat if he didn't stop flirting back. She was eleven, for heaven's sake! Of course, he may have just been humoring her. And it was a little cute. In a gross, Chester-the-molester kind of way."

"I cannot tell you how important fresh, crisp writing is for an aspiring writer. Plot is great. The overall concept is super important. But the writing is what sells your work. It all boils down to the words you choose and the order in which you arrange them."

"Paperwork wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for all the paper. And the work."

"Screw the beaten path! Do your thing. Write the best story you can. the rest will fall into place."

"Amador and Bianca have a great life that I'm only a little jealous of. They have two kids they bring to see me. His daughter, Ashlee, is almost five now. She has asked me to marry her when I get out. It feels kind of weird since she calls me Uncle Reyes and incest is frowned upon, but who am I to argue with true love?"

"Fresh writing and an original twist on an old idea. As much as this term is hated in the industry, it doesn't make it any less true. High concept. Simply put, you take a universal concept, something that has been done a million times (because everything has been done a million times), and add a fresh twist to it. Something no one saw coming. But mostly fresh writing! Keep it clean, simple, and compelling."

"Read. Write. Read some more. Explore the universe through your writing. Practice and learn what moves you and what doesn't."

"I made a decision long ago not to make any apologies. Romance rocks, and even though my books don't actually fall into the romance genre, I tout them as very much being about the romance. It's fun. We're all obsessed with it. And it's human nature. Remember, NO APOLOGIES! Write what 's in your heart!"

"Keep Reading.Keep Writing.Keep Pushing yourself!And never stop learning!We writerly types have to stick together mostly because everybody else thinks we're "weird"."

"I think the first draft is so challenging because that elusive BALANCE is so challenging."

"We don't read to observe the character from a distance. We read to become the character and experience the conflicts and rewards they are experiencing."

"Maybe I needed sensitivity training. I once signed up for an anger management class, but the instructor pissed me off."

"Nobody wants to look like a fool. Nine times out of ten, thatreason alone keeps people from allowing themselves to believe."

"But have you ever seen one?....They shook their heads. "Not Physically, no. But if you look at this passage - "Man, she liked that Bible. I'd read it and could definitely understand it's appeal, but I didn't have time for this."

"Never knock on death's door. Ring the doorbell then run. He totally hates that. - T-shirt."

"ALWAYS hook a reader. If a detail is unnecessary, it doesn't belong in your work, long or short! Make everything intriguing. If you have to describe a desk, make it awesome."

"I also become the local computer nerd. The administration brings me in to fix all the computers, I create viruses to invade at a specific day and time. They call me in, and I eradicate my own virus, only to plant another one to go into effect a couple months later. They ask me why I can't just fix the computers once and for all. I tell them to quit going to porn sites and it will stay fixed. That shuts them up every time."

"He turned the corner and flipped me off at the same time. See? Men could multitask. I was so proud of him."

"Does Uncle Bob have anything?""I heard he has an STD.""I mean on the women.""Oh, I have no idea if they have any STDs."

"If I couldn't be a good example, I'd just have to be a horrible warning."

"Don't let writers block push you around. Figure out what the problem is,whether it's with the ms or it's in your personal life, and face it head on. Don't stop writing. Just try really hard to work through it."

"Never wait for your muse. Train him/her to show up to work when you do by pushing on. It's a dominant submission thing."

"Since I had a soft spot for zombies and my curiosity was killing me, I opted for plan Z."

"In the meantime, I had to get dressed and go to work, because going to work in my pajamas was apparently the definition of unprofessional. Cookie's words. I looked it up though. She was wrong. Webster's mentioned nothing about pajamas."

"Step back and scrutinize your work, to delve deep into the meaning behind the words, it will get both easier in some ways and harder in others. Either way, you need to practice everyday. You will probably get faster with time, because you learn to do this instinctively, and the writing may flow better on some days more than others, but it doesn't get easier. And if you aren't writing everyday, you are doing yourself and your craft a disservice. Writing is a habit. Get into the habit."

"You know? he asked."Yes. I know what I am."You " you do?"I'm a time traveler."

"You do have a tendency to severe spinal cords.""Only for you."

"We all have a certain knowledge about how the universe works. And when someone comes along and challenges that knowledge, we don't know how to deal with it. We aren't hardwired that way. It's difficult to question everything you've ever thought to be true. So, like I said, it's not your fault. You can believe me or not, but whichever you choose, you're the one who has to deal with the consequences. So make your decision wisely, grasshopper."

"At first, I could lie about my lack of sleep and she'd fall for it, but she started suspecting insomnia when I began seeing purple elephants in the air vents at the office. I knew I shouldn't have asked her about them. I thought maybe she'd redecorated."

"If you can master the opening, you will be leaps and bounds ahead of the competition."

"You totally need to watch the news.""Can't.""Why?""It's too depressing.""Right, because hanging with dead people isn't."

"When life hands you lemons say,"Lemons? What else have you got?"- bumper sticker."

"You rented the apartment with a dead guy in the corner? I shrugged. "I wanted the apartment, and I figured I could cover him up with a bookcase or something."

"I stop fighting my inner demons. We're on the same side now. T-shirt."

"Gemma had blond hair and blue eyes. I did not.Gemma was always an A student. I was more of a B-all-you-can-be kind of gal.When Gemma was into science, I was into skipping.When Gemma was into foreign languages, I was into the hot Italian guy down the street."

"I am a huge believer in revelations and fun twists."

"I sort of got off on making bad guys sweat. Which was not unlike my love of making good guys sweat, just by very different means."

"The key to high concept is that fresh twist. Make it a big one. Wow your reader. Force her to gasp when she comes to that part in your story."

"The woman eyed Ubie a moment before grabbing a pen and writing down the dates I had. Ubie eyed her back. Sparks flew."

"Developing your voice takes... time and practice."

"For the first time in my life, I was in a shoot-out. A real, honest-to-goodness shoot-out with a bad guy. And, apparently, we both sucked."

"I still had my hand on his side, careful not to press. He reached out and hooked a finger into the belt loop on my jeans. It felt so natural, so fulfilling, to be there with him. To talk with him as if we did it everyday. As if we'd been doung it every day for years. Not even the heat of Ian's fury could penetrate the warmth I was getting from Reyes."

"There is a difference between fresh and weird. You never want to throw your reader out of the story. Keep it fresh but natural."

"I thought you were mad at me.""I am.""Well, I make it a rule never to have sex with anyone who's mad at me."He arched a brow. "It's a wonder you've ever had sex at all."

"You still owe me a million dollars." I'd presented him with a bill for proving his innocence and getting him freed from prison. He had yet to pay. Couldn't imagine why."Yeah, I was hoping we could work that out.""The interest alone is going to kill you.""What do you charge?""Three hundred eighty-seven percent.""Is that ethical?""It's as ethical as my dating the son of Satan."