“My purse, like all purses, seems to have a traveling black hole in it.”

“If you keep a gun in your purse, you get killed, because no woman can find anything in her purse in under twelve minutes. It's a rule.”

“My right hand was sort of casually near my gun, without looking like I was reaching for my gun. It wasn't easy. Reaching for a gun usually looks like reaching for a gun. No one seemed to notice though. Goody for our side.”

“It means black kitten," I said with my pulse almost even again.Ares studied me. "And you're ok with them calling you their black kitten?""They're wererats, Ares," I said.He frowned at me."They're not calling me their little black rat. Think it through.”

“What had my scary thought been? That Olaf was sincere. In some crazy,pathological way, he like-liked me. As in boyfriend-liked me. Not just for fucking or slaughter, but maybe, just maybe, he actually wanted to date me like one human being to another. He seemed to have no clue how to interact with a woman in a way that wasn't terrifying, but he was trying. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, he was trying.”

“My characters surprise me constantly. My characters are like my friends - I can give them advice, but they don't have to take it. If your characters are real, then they surprise you, just like real people.”

“If the only tool you have is a hammer, all your problems begin to look like nails. - Abraham Maslow”