Tamora Pierce
I return to my regularly scheduled profile:
Though I would love to join groups, I'm going to turn them all down. I just don't have the time to take part, so please don't be offended if I don't join your group or accept an invitation. I'm not snooty--I'm just up to my eyeballs in work and appearances!
Also, don't be alarmed by the number of books I've read. When I get bored, I go through the different lists and rediscover books I've read in the past. It's a very evil way to use up time when I should be doing other things. Obviously, I've read a lot of books in 54 years!
I was born in South Connellsville, PA. My mother wanted to name me "Tamara" but the nurse who filled out my birth certificate misspelled it as "Tamora". When I was 8 my family moved to California, where we lived for 6 years on both sides of the San Francisco peninsula.
I started writing stories in 6th grade. My interest in fantasy and science fiction began when I was introduced to ‘The Lord of the Rings’ by J. R. R. Tolkien and so I started to write the kind of books that I was reading. After my parents divorced, my mother took my sisters and me back to Pennsylvania in 1969. There I went to Albert Gallatin Senior High for 2 years and Uniontown Area Senior High School for my senior year.
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, I wrote the book that became The Song of the Lioness fantasy quartet. I sold some articles and 2 short stories and wrote reviews for a martial arts movie magazine. At last the first book of the quartet, Alanna: The First Adventure was published by Atheneum Books in 1983.
Tim Liebe, who became my Spouse-Creature, and I lived in New York City with assorted cats and two parakeets from 1982 - 2006. In 2006 we moved to Syracuse, New York, where we live now with assorted cats, a number of squirrels, birds, raccoons, skunks, opossums, and woodchucks visiting our very small yard. As of 2011, I have 27 novels in print, one short story collection, one comic book arc ("White Tiger: A Hero's Compulsion") co-written with Tim, and a short story anthology co-editing credit. There's more to come, including a companion book to the Tortall `verse. So stay tuned!
“Reflect as if you have all of time, even when time is short.”
“Men broke into their homes, killed their families, threatened you--and you won't let them do anything for fear you'll be hurt. That's selfish. How would you like it if I took your bow and said I cared too much about you to let you fight?”
“You'll see. I'm as good as any boy. I'm better. - Kel”
“Adults and pups alike, they surrounded her in the greeting ceremony, licking her face and wagging their tails. Brokefang let the girl hug him fiercely about the neck and nuzzled her in reply.”
“He liked me to help him when he did things. He explained what I didn't know, warned me when to stand aside, never told me to get out of his way because he could do it faster, and thanked me for helping. There were moments when he needed me to rescue him, and he never blamed me for it, or got angry about it.”
“Without reading, we are all without light in the dark, without fire in the cold.”
“Faithful: When will you learn to leave well enough alone?Alanna sighed. "When I want to stop learning, I guess.”
“I’m to attend balls and banquets without my squire?" demanded Raoul, all innocence. "I can't handle things like requesting water to shave with, or getting my clothes pressed. I need Kel.”
“That's all this job is, Daine," she explained. "Trying to please everyone and pleasing no one. And it will only get worse, not better.”
“So long as there are nobles and commoners, the wealthy and the poor, those with power will be heard, and those without ignored. That's the world.”
“Wouldn't--" Kel began to say, but the words stuck in her mouth. She swallowed and tried again. "Wouldn't it be well, not nice to flirt with somebody you don't want to fall in love with?”
“Feelings, she learned, were hard to fight. She treasured his smiles and compliments and tried not to dwell on the fact that he gave this things to his friend Kel.His dreamy-eyed gazes, poems, and fits of passionate melancholy were for Uline. It was hard not to resent the older girl.”
“Fear is a good thing. It mean you're paying attention.”
“I wish he wouldn’t do this when he’s on me. It’s really very upsetting.”
“I wish we had a sign that this flaming dragon is part of an attack or something. Those dung heaps might think it’s just one of their own monsters enjoying the sunrise.”
“If I have to 'catch' a man to get a husband, I don't want one.”
“Men died as she watched, and they didn't care about what they had fought for.”
“You turned into a hero when I wasn't watching.”
“You get too excited over big flashes, Tunstall. Mages rely on that to make you think they have more power than you.”
“Folk caught up in a riot aren't our cousins and sisters, our brothers and uncles. They are part of a big animal with many arms and claws, armed with stones and sticks.”
“Pride is something only folk with money can afford.”
“The tall thief rushed down the stairs and grabbed her, swinging her around as he laughed. "And I've been thinkin' you forgot me," he said, placing her on her feet once more. "Just look at you! Tan and fit and wearin' the clothes of a Bazhir-"Alanna looked up into his friendly hazel eyes and broke into tears.”
“You are brave, kicking a chained prisoner. They must sing heroic ballads about you on winter nights!" (Alanna)”
“Girl, boy or dancing bear, you're the finest page-the finest squire-to-be-at court." (Jon to Alanna)”
“Why does he speak of them that way?" The crow-man wanted to know. "They are humans, just like he is.""I don't think he sees them as just like him." Ally explained."He is foolish then," said Nawat. "There are more raka than Bronaus.”
“At the house, the gathering broke up quickly. Sarai announced that she had a headache and needed to lie down. Without her to hold them together, the young nobles chose to go home. The gloss had been stripped from the afternoon.”
“Funfunfunfunfun!”
“If I were useful, you wouldn't know it was me.”
“Do we say, Oh now I'm going to be nice to the weak and the small? Or do we do as we learned when we were pages?”
“Don't you ever get tired of asking questions?''Never. They're mother's milk to me.”
“What if custom is wrong? demanded the part of her that believed in the code of chivalry. A knight must set things right.”
“I'm sorry," she said humbly. "I haven't wanted to lie to you.""I should hope so. You're the worst liar I've ever met." He thought about it for a moment, then added, "--or the best. Now I'm all confused.”
“I believe in deeds, not words.”
“Why does this mean so much to you, Jon?"The Prince turned. "Because he's my friend. Because I always know where he stands, and where I stand with him. Because I think he'd die for me and--and I think I'd die for him. Is that enough?”
“It's always better to attack than to defend," Coram had told her when they talked about fencing late at night. "Always. Ye don't win with defense--ye only hold the other feller off, or wear him down. Attack and have done with it!”
“Well, laddie, if you've let an old buzzard like me hurt you confidence, you couldn't have had much in the first place.”
“George looked at her for a long moment. Finally he replied, "And why do you find it so hard to think someone might like you and want to do things for you?”
“Excuse me," she said politely. "But you can't have him. Not yet. He's going to come back with me.”
“Moral issues rarely have yes or no answers.-Myles to Alanna when she asks about the Gift”
“A bully fights people littler and weaker than he is because he thinks it's fun.”
“I wish you would thrash him. He deserves it."She looked back at him. "I will one day, sir. I'm getting tired of falling down.”
“Stefan spat. "Oh, aye, he fell. O' course, Master Ralon helped him fall, several times. Poor li'l tyke didn't have a chance.”
“He's got courage," Alex said."Courage!" Raoul bellowed. "That coward almost kills him and--”
“If you have to hit--hit low.”
“Ralon didn't make anyone else put his tack away?" Alex wanted to know. "You didn't see anything strange?" Alanna didn't look up. "No." It wasn't strange , she excused her lie mentally. Ralon does things like that all the time. ”
“Alanna didn't approve of lying, but in a pinch a lie was sometimes better than the truth.”
“Stefan shook his head. Th' lad's got guts , he thought. Not much sense, but guts. ”
“I--buy, and I sell.""You're a thief.”
“Face it," Gary told her kindly. "You'll never catch up. You just do as much as you can and take the punishments without saying anything. Sometimes I wonder if that isn't what they're really trying to teach us--to take plenty and keep our mouths shut.”
“Hello," he greeted her cheerfully. "You must be Alan of Trebond. You're very hardy to have made it this far the first day. Has anyone said what we try to learn in here?" Alanna said the first thing that came to her lips. "The only thing I know is that I jump when I'm told to and I have no free time.”