#novels

The clock ticks; the taunting rhythm serving as a reminder that forward is the only way we can go. The mechanical heartbeat of the darkness, a cold ellipsis, punctuating years gone by. Arising unchained. No glorious hymn, just the steady beat of the illusion of time. We heal or we carry forward the weight of our wounds... To believe otherwise is the mendacity of desperation. Arising honestly. The miles behind are littered with the weight of nostalgia, but too many miles lay ahead us to carry the weight. In the end, even echoes fade away. Pen in hand... Arising to write the next chapter. (MU Articles 2013, Dedication to Joey) ↗

— Shannon L. Alder

#forgetting-the-past #future #letting-go #life #love

I am not a twenty-two-year-old boy; I am not a besotted fool. If you think to jilt me, think again. For I will not turn tail and run the other way as he did, oh no. I will find you, and I will drag you to the altar on your back if need be, no matter how you might be screaming. No matter how scandalous it might be. ↗

— Brenda Joyce

#love

The only time I've ever learned anything from a review was when John Lanchester wrote a piece in the Guardian about my second novel, The Heather Blazing. He said that, together with the previous novel, it represented a diptych about the aftermath of Irish independence. I simply hadn't known that – and I loved the grandeur of the word "diptych". I went around quite snooty for a few days, thinking: "I wrote a diptych." [Colm Tóibín, Novelist – Portrait of the Artist, The Guardian, 19 February 2013] ↗

— Colm Tóibín

#conceit #critique #diptychs #grandeur #novelists

Afterwards, as he held me and stroked my hair, my body was singing with pleasure, I couldn’t believe I had waited so long. I thought of how we had wasted a whole year we could have had together and I felt so sad I wanted to cry. ↗

— Somi Ekhasomhi

#romance #romance-novels #love

I rewrapped the scarf around my neck, and thought about how excited Jake had been that first winter he was here. Maybe it was just as simple as this: that he'd been up here enough to know that there wasn't anything special about Willow Hill. Including me. ↗

— Claire Ray

#love

I won’t break Cooper,” she pulled his head to hers with a hand tangled in his hair to whisper huskily in his ear; “I’ll even bend if you like. ↗

— Kelly Curry

#contemporary-romance #love #romance-novels #romances #love

Let no one who loves be called altogether unhappy. Even love unreturned has its rainbow - James Matthew Barrie ↗

— John Charles Harman

#love #mystery #romance-novels #love

Entah mengapa, mendadak dia merasa bahwa berkenalan dengan si pemilik nama itu sepertinya akan menyenangkan. ↗

— Jee

#fiction-novel #fiction-writing #romance #romance-love #romance-novels

Ah, ya, omong-omong, aku sangat merindukanmu. Apa kau merindukanku juga, mmm? ↗