“Move on. It's just a chapter in the past. But don't close the book just turn the page.”

“I tell everyone who asks me about writing...almost everyone has an idea for a book, and some even have a great ending, but it's that 290 or so pages in between that are tough!”

“He grinned, raising the glass to his lips, the liquid wetting his mouth. I wanted to be that glass. -from chapter Hurts So Good, The Boots My Mother Gave Me”

“Within each of us, there lies the innate ability to survive, triumph, and overcome, rewriting the scripts of our own lives, having some power over our fate and the fate of generations to come. Nothing has to be 'just because that's the way it's always been.' -The Boots My Mother Gave Me”

“I remained completely conscious of Jeremiah. He smelled good. He looked good. He sounded good. And when he ran his tongue across the salt on that place between his index finger and his thumb, I wanted to be that little spot. -from chapter Lick, Drink, Suck!, The Boots My Mother Gave Me”

“Man, Duke and I work our fannies off. We don't eat expensive dinners out. We don't go to the mvies or buy our clothes anywhere but Kmart--our biggest treat is taking the kids to Walmart on Friday nights, having a fast food hamburger and doing the grocery shopping.”

“You can't fall in love with a man for who he is, and then expect him to change. Just love him, and if he's worth his salt, he'll give you what you need and be the man you need him to be.”