Ellen Wittlinger

“I was only going to shoot you if he was in one band. And only if it had a name like Uncle Toejam's Acid Crematorium or something. But bluegrass is good, and hey, music is MY life too. Maybe I'll actually like the guy (assuming he's around long enough). Just don't write and tell me you're in the process of stirring up some baby Custard-Mustards.”

“That's what I love about writing. Once you get the words down on paper, in print, they start to make sense. It's like you don't know what you think until it dribbles from your brain down your arm and into your hand and out through your fingers and shows up on the computer screen, and you read it and realize: That's really true; I believe that.”

“I trust the red sun setting, the leafless November trees.On Monday morning I look foward fearlessly to Friday’s eve.But humans are not as reliableas nature, as trees.I wonder if you’ll come back;I trust only that you leave.”

“But you can only lie about who you are for so long without going crazy.”

“It's a lie, you know, to pretend that nothing is important to you. It's hiding. Believe me, I know because I hid for a long time. But now I won't do it anymore. The truth is bioluminescent. I don't lie, and I don't waste time on people who do.”

“It seems obvious to me that the more queer books there are in the wolrd, the more queer kids we reach with the message that they are not alone, the fewer LGBT kids become one of these grim statistics.”

“I watched her walk away, first thinking: good riddance – who needs this abuse? And then after a minute thinking: she never really understood me anyway. Which rapidly changed to: I never understood her at all. And before long I was watching her small back disappear and thinking: there goes the only person who ever gave a damn about me.”

“When people say they love you, you just have to decide to believe them, because you'll never know for sure.”

“People changed lots of other personal things all the time. They dyed their hair and dieted themselves to near death. They took steroids to build muscles and got breast implants and nose jobs so they'd resemble their favorite movie stars. They changed names and majors and jobs and husbands and wives. They changed religions and political parties. They moved across the country or the world — even changed nationalities. Why was gender the one sacred thing we weren’t supposed to change? Who made that rule?”

“what's normal, she said. adults are all just weird in different ways. ”

“i want to look at all my tears, she said. which made me shiver”

“the whole idea of boys being people you would actually choose to spend time with was pretty much totally incomprehensible to me. i could never think of anything to say to them, and they seemed equally dumbstruck by my presence. ”

“sometimes people think they're above the laws the rest of us live by. they're blind to their own imperfections. ”

“nobody is like anybody else. that's why nobody gets along with anybody else. ”

“when there's an elephant in the room, you can't pretend it isn't there and just discuss the ants. ”

“you give everyone the benefit of the doubt. they don't always deserve it. ”

“i believe in anything it would be nature - trees, clouds, rain - the life cycles that begin and end, season after season. that makes sense to me - nature as God. ”

“bunny was a good soul and a strong believer but she would have been that way whether she went to church or not, wouldn't she. church doesn't make you a better person. ”

“i was in love with the sound of the slamming door, it sounded the way i felt, like damn you to hell! and i hate what you're doing to me! and Life sucks. ”

“...and she said we all had to find God inside ourselves, in the things we loved most. ”

“well, you just have to make sure that you're his escape”

“well, it sounds strange, but when i think of God, i think of a soft whirring noise - like a spinning ball of energy - something i can tap into when i need it. ”

“My name is Mike. Instantly forgettable. Unlike Heather. What a breathless little name that is.”