“My protagonists are my mother's voice and the mind I had when I was thirteen.”

“My mother sold my virginity for two thousand dollars when I was thirteen but my sister bought it back for three thousand dollars that she borrowed from the massage parlour.My virginity was the only available asset that my mother had left, that she could sell.[MMT]”

“Oh, God, Shannon. You're blowing my mind." Clint's morning voice was rich with passion.I wanted to correct him and explain that it wasn't his mind I was blowing, but my mother had taught me it was impolite to speak when one's mouth was full...”

“I think my mother's and Granny's storytelling had had the same effect upon me when a child, as the reading of books: my mind was stimulated, my creativity encouraged.”

“From the way my mother's eyes lit up, I could guess she was wondering about a marriage between me and one of the Grand Duchess Miechen's sons. Never mind that the eldest, Kyril, was only thirteen.”

“I've got no mother, no wife, no kids. I had, but my mother's dead, and I lost my wife and my kids when I had my trouble. Women are bitches. It's hard for a chap to live without any affection in his life.”