#novel

Ah, Sir, a novel is a mirror carried along a high road. At one moment it reflects to your vision the azure skies, at another the mire of the puddles at your feet. And the man who carries this mirror in his pack will be accused by you of being immoral! His mirror shews the mire, and you blame the mirror! Rather blame that high road upon which the puddle lies, still more the inspector of roads who allows the water to gather and the puddle to form. ↗

— Stendhal

#novels #satire #social-criticism #satire

Being with Demetri wasn’t the absence of pain, it was the added presence of peace, making it easier and easier for that little part of my heart to heal again.--From Pull: A Seaside Novel ↗

— Rachel Van Dyken

#new-adult-romance #pull #tear-a-seaside-novel #contemporary

Writing a novel is actually searching for victims. As I write I keep looking for casualties. The stories uncover the casualties." (Interview in Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews, Eighth Series, ed. George Plimpton, 1988) ↗

— John Irving

#craft #novels #victims #writing #writing-craft

Ending a novel is almost like putting a child to sleep – it can't be done abruptly." [Colm Tóibín, Novelist – Portrait of the Artist, The Guardian, 19 February 2013] ↗

— Colm Tóibín

#craft #novels #writing #writing-craft

Goodbyes are sad, but they are temporary, because as hellos ends with goodbyes, so will goodbyes start with hellos. ↗

— Melody Manful

#fantasy-fiction #guardian-angels #melody-manful #romance-novels #romance-novels

Short-story writing requires an exquisite sense of balance. Novelists, frankly, can get away with more. A novel can have a dull spot or two, because the reader has made a different commitment. ↗

— Lynn Abbey

#balance #because #commitment #different #dull

There's never a false note in a Berg novel. ↗

— Augusten Burroughs

#false #never #note #novel

Never much of a fantasy fan, I knew one thing for certain: Odell Greenry loved Precious every bit as much as Gollum loved his “precious.” And while both objects of obsession could be possessed neither could be mastered. ↗

— Mandy Broughton

#love

Novels are written word by word. If you can write a word, and then another word, you can write a novel—assuming your novel will be two words long. Here’s a two-word romance novel: I do. It’s also a murder mystery.
 ↗

— Jarod Kintz

#humor #marriage #murder #murder-mystery #mystery

Blake smiled while greeting him and turned to introduce me to his friend from Camp Lejeune. Blake made the formal introductions while I studied the two distinguished men. I liked the way they both carried themselves in a dignified manner with confidence, but not too much that they seemed arrogant. I was fascinated by them. Sleek. Forget eye candy. These two are like eye caffeine. I feel energized just looking at them. ↗

— Debra Kay

#contemporary-romance #drama #erotic-romance #fiction-novel #military-romance