People want you to be ordinary. They don’t like it when people are different. They don’t like it when a man soars over their heads while they stand in the dirt. People hate you when you’re special; it reminds them of everything that they aren’t.
Some of us find our way with a single light to guide us; others lose themselves even when the star field is as sharp as a neon ceiling. Ethics may not be situational, but feelings are. We learn to adjust, and, over time, the stars we use to guide ourselves come to reside within rather than without.
It’s easy to sound good. All you do is leave in the parts where you act tough and forget the parts where you get shoved around.
I love the fact that you collaborate with your readers when you write a book.
I had a big Akita, Yoshi, who was fabulous. I loved him. We lost him when he was 12, and I’ve never been able to replace him. Normally, most people lose a pet and get another and keep going on. But it just felt wrong to me; it felt disloyal.
At Lackland Air Force Base, they make an effort to retrain military dogs that suffer from PTSD. It’s a lengthy, long process. The treatment is much the same as it would be for people, but it’s a difficult road back.
I write characters and stories that move me, and I write from the heart.
There isn’t so much love in the world that you can turn it away when it’s offered.
A man with friends is the wealthiest man in the world.
Every second we have with these fine animals is a blessing. No creature, human or otherwise, will love you with such devotion, or trust you so fully. Remember this, Officer James. These dogs will lay their precious hearts bare to you, and hold back no part for themselves. Can anyone else in your pathetic excuse for a life say the same? Such trust is a gift from God Almighty above, so best you be worthy.
A fine layer of ash had blown into the carport, showing a single set of cat prints going from the side of the house to the cat hatch built into my door. People in Minnesota see things like this with snow.
This man took my last son. No one could claim my hurt, or my anger. No one could have a greater claim on this one’s life.” Her voice was tight and fierce. She patted Ray’s arm. “There’s been enough killing down here. We have to find a way to live without the killing.
Patrol dogs and Military Working Dogs were trained to protect their handlers. If the handler was attacked, and unconscious, or fighting for his or her life, the dog had to know what to do without being told. As Leland said, “These animals aren’t robots, goddamnit! They think! You train her up right, this beautiful dog will watch your back better than a squad of goddamned Marines!
She fingered the card and looked at the younger man. “James Edward, did you offer the man a cool drink?” James Edward said, “You want a Scrapple?
Officer Pike took off his dark glasses, and looked at her. She felt her breath catch. His eyes were the most liquid blue, the blue of the sky over the high deserts of Sonora, the blue of the ocean where it has no bottom and is infinitely clean. But it wasn’t the blue that stopped her breath. For just a moment when the glasses were first pulled away, she could have sworn that those eyes were filled with the most terrible and long-endured pain. Then the pain was gone and there was only the blue.
That’s the way adults often talk to children. You know they’re not going to listen, but you want to tell them anyway just so you know that you have.
I’m a big brown mouse, I go marching through the house, and I’m not afraid of anything! I.
I looked like an ad for Banana Republic. Maybe Banana Republic would give me a job. They could put my picture in their little catalog and under it they could say: Elvis Cole, famous detective, outfitted for his latest adventure in rugged inner-city climes!
People often die from love, and this is a secret we all keep, even from ourselves.
Waiting doesn’t look like much, but it is something very important. Waiting is passive hunting.