“It's my red hair that interferes with my good sense. All that color so close to my brain, it plum disorients me most days.”

“I heard you showed some backbone. I decided to visit in the vain hope that you might be turning interesting.”

“Wonderful. Gives a whole new meaning to flour power. You'll undoubtedly change the world, one fruitcake at a time.”

“This place was already affecting my brain.”

“On day one of the drive, I saw my first dome sky. The world was so flat that I could see the level horizon all around me and the sky looked like a dome. Skies like that will give you perspective when nothing else will. The second day, a tumbleweed blew across the interstate. I’m in a western movie, I said to myself, laughing. I found it so much easier to laugh now that this weight had been lifted from my shoulders.”

“Someone asked me today what we do about snow days. After all, we are homeschoolers, so we don't have to be bound by icy roads. Simply, here's what our family's thought on that is: I ask my children, "Would you rather be indoors doing schoolwork when it's nasty outside like it is today, or when it's sunny and 70F?" It works for us.”

“The shudder went all through him. Bones pressed me so close that his body ground into mine, jerking my head back with a thick handful of hair until our eyes locked. What had started out as a game was now an open challenge, as well as a direct threat. Any further action would bear results, it was clear from the way his gaze smoldered into mine. All of this should have frightened me, but it was as if my mind were incapable of rational thought. He was a vampire, a hit man, and had almost killed me...and nothing mattered more than the feel of him. I licked my lips and didn't pull away, and it was all the invitation he needed.”