I think humans might be like butterflies; people die every day without many other people knowing about them, seeing their colors, hearing their stories... and when humans are broken, they're like broken butterfly wings; suddenly there are so many bea...
There are a lot of ways for a novelist to create suspense, but also really only two: one a trick, one an art. The trick is to keep a secret. Or many secrets, even. In Lee Child’s books, Jack Reacher always has a big mystery to crack, but there are ...
Captain Harvile: Poor Phoebe, she would not have forgotten him so soon. It was not in her nature. Anne Elliot: It would not be in the nature of any woman who truly loved. Captain Harvile: Do you claim that for your sex? Anne Elliot: We do not forget ...
I wear makeup and I don dramatic attire because I like control. I’m not interested in controlling others but I’m invested in strict self-governance. This is why I don’t do many face-to-face interviews. I don’t like being caught off-guard. It ...
I've been actively engaged with mythic imagery ever since I picked up that Rackham book, but it really came into focus for me when I moved from London to the country. As I walked the extraordinary landscape of Dartmoor, I looked at the trees and the ...
Much of life, fatherhood included, is the story of knowledge acquired too late: if only I’d known then what I know now, how much smarter, abler, stronger, I would have been. But nothing really prepares you for kids, for the swells of emotion that r...
A novel works it's magic by putting a reader inside another person's life. The pace is as slow as life. It's as detailed as life. It requires you, the reader, to fill in an outline of words with vivid pictures drawn subconsciously from your own life,...
Some writers might tell you that writing is like a piece of magic - a process of creating something out of nothing, and I guess I used to think about it that way too a long long time ago. But as I've lived my life and loved and lost friends and famil...
Dear Human: You've got it all wrong. You didn't come here to master unconditional love. This is where you came from and where you'll return. You came here to learn personal love. Universal love. Messy love. Sweaty Love. Crazy love. Broken love. Whole...
If I'd been a cowboy, it might've ended well. Somewhere on the ramble, I'm sure I'd have to sell My guns along the highway. My coins to the table To make a gambler's double, I'd double debts to pay. Prob'ly shrink and slink away, It mightn't've ended...
Gordie: Fuck writing, I don't want to be a writer. It's stupid. It's a stupid waste of time. Chris: That's your dad talking. Gordie: Bullshit. Chris: Bull true. Chris: I know how your dad feels about you. He doesn't give a shit about you. Denny was t...
Walter Neff: Hello, Keyes. You're up pretty early, aren't you? I always wondered what time you got down to the office. Or did that little man of yours pull you out of bed? Barton Keyes: The janitor did. Seems you leaked a little blood on the way in h...
Mika Kobayashi: What are you doing? Daigo Kobayashi: This one. Here. Mika Kobayashi: What? Daigo Kobayashi: A stone letter. Mika Kobayashi: Stone letter? Daigo Kobayashi: Long ago, before writing, you'd send someone a stone that suited the way you we...
Host-TV: Quite a story, yes? Any questions for Edward? Yeah, get way over. Stand right up. Audience Member #1: What's been the best part of your new life here in town? Edward: The friends I made. Host-TV: Any other questions? Audience Member #2: Have...
Roy Walker: [finishing the story, both he and Alexandria are crying] He can't win. That's because our masked bandit is a coward. Yeah. He never took an oath, he's a fake. He's a liar and a coward. Alexandria: You're lying. Roy Walker: No. He had his ...
Commodus: If you're very good, tomorrow night I'll tell you the story of emperor Claudius who was betrayed by those closest to him, by his own blood. They whispered in dark corners and went out late at night and conspired and conspired but the empero...
Hiccup: [after Valka tells her story] How did you survive? Valka: Oh, Cloudjumper never meant to harm me. He... must've thought I belonged here. [shows Hiccup the Bewilderbeast] Valka: In the home of the great Bewilderbeast. The alpha species. One of...
[Pauline is spending the Easter holiday with the Hulmes. Hilda Hulme, brushing Pauline's hair into an attractive shag, listens while Juliet describes more of the story that they've been devising] Juliet Hulme: Mummy, Paul and I have decided that Char...
Rita Skeeter: So tell me, Harry. Here you sit, a mere boy of 12... Harry: Rita Skeeter: Harry: I dunno, I haven't really thought about it... Rita Skeeter: Because you're no ordinary boy of 12 are you? Harry: 14. Rita Skeeter: Your story's legend. D...
[telling young Sonarman Beaumont about Jones's most embarrassing moment] Watson: Seaman Jones here is into music in a big way, and he views this whole boat as his own personal, private stereo set. Well, one day he's got this piece of Pavarotti... Sea...
[last lines] Tony Stark: There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop... Christine Everheart: I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a sui...
