Lisa Lutz Quotes & Sayings

We knew we were doomed. The kiss was a warm acceptance of years of bickering, years of me consuming foods that I found barely edible and Henry tidying up after someone who already thought she had tidied up. When I kissed Henry I wasn't imagining Ex-boyfriend #13; I was picturing Husband #1. — Lisa Lutz

I was thinking what everyone is thinking all of the time: How can I make this last just a little bit longer? — Lisa Lutz

Kate ranked the sunset against a few others and it came up short, but sunsets were like pizza, she though; they were all pretty good. — Lisa Lutz

If you haven't said 'I love you' to someone today, do it. You won't always be happy, but you should try to be. Don't be too afraid of germs. Those people have no fun. Remember to look around sometimes. You might see something you haven't seen before or at the very least avoid being hit by a flying object. Speaking of flying objects, don't spend your life looking for extraterrestrial life, unless you work for NASA. Remember that you always have to cooperate with someone. Life is an endless negotiation. Play fair. Stay out of jail. Don't live in the past. Eat breakfast. It really is the most important meal of the day. Try to make new friends, even when you think you're too old to do that ... And finally, remember this 'Yes' is always a better work than 'no'. Unless, of course, someone has just asked you to commit a felony. — Lisa Lutz

I don't have any kids, so I'm not as worried about my heirs as the rest of you, but still: I think the youth of tomorrow might be better off if they knew the physical sensation of cracking a spine and turning the page. — Lisa Lutz

Mrs. Chandler shouted after us, And I hope that was all-natural food coloring you put on my dog! — Lisa Lutz

She asked how I liked my tea and I told her with cream and sugar (but really, I like my tea to be coffee), — Lisa Lutz

David Spellman was born perfect. Eight pounds even, with a full head of hair and unblemished skin, he cried for a brief moment right after his birth (to let the doctor know he was breathing), then stopped abruptly, probably out of politeness. — Lisa Lutz

The latter. She had a good run, Sook said, doing a little shrug. It was his usual response to death at Mapleshade, and it was a safe bet that he felt that way about himself. Like most twice-widowed, Korea-vet, nature-loving, gun-enthusiast, bilingual, weed-connoisseur great grandfathers of five, he'd lived a full life. — Lisa Lutz

The next week she withheld my paycheck until I signed a document (drafted by David) in which I promised not to marry Connor. Ever. I signed the document, took the check, and had David draft another document forbidding all Spellmans to practice any form of blackmail. David tried to explain to me that a contract in which you promise not to break the law is ultimately redundant, but I didn't care. — Lisa Lutz

It's not like I didn't think I had any demons. I did, but I could name them- and even provide an address and telephone number for each. As far as I was concerned, those demons could go to therapy instead of me. — Lisa Lutz

I knew immediately that this was not going to work out. Hunter is the kind of guy who dates women who wear high heels and a cocktail dress on a first date. I can't even walk in heels, and I generally believe that someone has to earn the right to see my legs. — Lisa Lutz

I have a weakness for tough guys who read. — Lisa Lutz

I liked finding dirt on people. It made all my trespasses seem trivial. — Lisa Lutz

I'm sorry you're angry" is NOT an apology. — Lisa Lutz

You know what I'm thinking?' Maggie said. I had no idea. 'Nope,' David replied. Apparently David didn't know either. Maggie turned to me with pleading eyes.'Our babysitter has the flu.' 'I'm sorry to hear that,' I replied. Dead silence. I honestly had no idea what Maggie was getting at, so I misread the silence. 'It's not serious, I hope,' I said sympathetically. — Lisa Lutz

His sense of humor is purely cheap vaudeville, yet everyone falls for it. — Lisa Lutz

Your father and I haven't had this much quality time since our honeymoon."
"So what?"
"So, what if we can't stand each other? — Lisa Lutz

If people really grew up, there would be no crime, no divorce, no Civil War reenactors ... it's not like you think it will be, that one day you'll wake up and realize that you've got things figured out. You never figure it out. Ever. - Isabel Spellman attempting to explain growing up to her sister Rae — Lisa Lutz

I was recently cautioned about some 'difficult' characters in a work-in-progress, and I was surprised at first to hear them labeled as such. On second glance, there was nothing more difficult about them than anyone I know. But in a book you are privy to an interior world which exposes the uglier parts that in life we get to hide. Arguably, all characters should be somewhat unlikable. — Lisa Lutz

I understand individuals and their personal motivations, but when those same individuals become a part of something bigger, some amorphous corporate ball of greed, I can't anticipate the logical next move, because it has long ago stopped being human. Your average human being has a conscience and the world is structured with checks and balances to shed light on that individual should he or she become something ugly and cruel. But a company can hide its corruption; the individuals responsible can sit innocently and united behind their desks for years before they are discovered. They are as guilty as the guy robbing the liquor store in the ski mask, only they're free to show their faces. I had no idea whether I should be looking for the worker bee or the nest, or both, and my nearsightedness cost my boss his job. — Lisa Lutz

While he bore no real resemblance to anyone in my family, his features were a collection of my mother's and father's best attributes, with a few of Gregory Peck's thrown in. — Lisa Lutz

What's her name?" "None of your business." "That can't possibly be her name. — Lisa Lutz

Sometimes fear and dread are superior to tedium. — Lisa Lutz

But Vivien wasn't being given the chance to sow her wild oats. Speaking from a point of authority, it's best to get that shit out of the way when you are young. — Lisa Lutz

But the most valuable lesson he taught me was this: Every day we get older, and some of us get wiser, but there's no end to our evolution. We are all a mess of contradictions; some of our traits work for us, some against us. — Lisa Lutz

Because that's what you do, you keep trying even when you know the effort is in vain. As — Lisa Lutz

Our ability to adapt is amazing. Our ability to change isn't quite as spectacular. — Lisa Lutz

You can never see anything clearly when you're running. — Lisa Lutz

David, I just broke into your home. Clearly I don't respect boundaries. Do you really think a verbal request is going to put a dent in any of my plans? — Lisa Lutz

Mitch had a particular way with women - a formula of giving and withholding that almost always managed to hook them. Getting them to talk about themselves was the first step; remaining enigmatic was the second. There were other steps, but he used only the first two during that encounter. — Lisa Lutz

I'm staying," Henry said, annoyed.
"Why?"
"Because, if I leave, it would be like abandoning two mentally challenged people in a nuclear waste dump. — Lisa Lutz

David's brow unfurled and he crouched down on the floor with his daughter. 'Did you have a fun time with your aunt Izzy?' he asked in a high squeaky voice.
Sydney stared at him blankly.
'Say good morning to Aunt Izzy.'
Sydney stared at me blankly.
'Remember me from last night?' I asked.
'Did you have fun?' Maggie asked.
'I wouldn't go that far,' I replied.
'I was actually talking to Sydney, Maggie said.
'Oh well, she'd probably agree. We had an okay time, didn't we, Sydney?'
'Why can't you talk to her like a normal person?' asked David.
'I'm the only one talking to her like a normal person. You sound like a eunuch. — Lisa Lutz

My father insisted that the boys in my life were directly responsible for my juvenile-delinquent tendencies.
My mother, more accurately, assumed that I was the bad influence. — Lisa Lutz

No one is going to abduct me, Rae." "That's what all abductees say. — Lisa Lutz

Somebody is always hiding something. — Lisa Lutz

The problem isn't reading Ayn Rand, it's liking her. — Lisa Lutz

I don't mind losing. Losing is like breathing to me. — Lisa Lutz

Stop looking at me like that."
Sorry, I just wanted to savor the moment," Mom replied.
What moment?" I asked.
You're in first place," she said, and then began washing the windows. — Lisa Lutz

We provide proof of a question for which the answer is already known. — Lisa Lutz

If you have enough unanswered questions, you have a certifiable mystery, and those are impossible to resist. — Lisa Lutz

There was a time I used to cry, but that was another lifetime ago. My heart was broken just once. But completely. As — Lisa Lutz

Finally, I'd like to thank my readers for staying with me all these years. I especially want to thank the ones who understand that the world isn't made up of happy endings, but messy, complicated, and untidy ones. — Lisa Lutz

I entered his apartment without being invited, which is perfectly fine if you're not a vampire. — Lisa Lutz

I refuse to have a life partner who spends his days pretending to be on a BBC show. — Lisa Lutz

The best way to hide in plain sight was to get fat. — Lisa Lutz

I remember a time when my mind wouldn't have been able to shut down, my cases churning so relentlessly that I could barely see the person standing right in front of me. I remember when it had to be me who solved the case, who figured out the riddle. Now I didn't care who did it, how it came about, just as long as it was over. I'm tired of seeing all the rotten things one person does to another person. Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to open a flower shop. But this is my dream: One day, I leave my job at my office and it doesn't follow me home and haunt me in my sleep. Another dream: I don't live in my brother's basement apartment. After everything I've seen and done and mused about endlessly, I'm convinced of one thing: There's more to life than this, and sometimes when I picture more, it looks like something so simple, like so much less. — Lisa Lutz

I tried not to think of Uncle Ray as being gone forever. I just liked to imagine him on one really long Lost Weekend. — Lisa Lutz

You're a terrible cook, Daniel."
"I know," he replied, "But it's the effort that counts."
"I hope that's not the slogan for your dental practice. — Lisa Lutz

What was she like in the end?
The way most people are at the end. Scared and full of regret. The way you are all of the time. — Lisa Lutz

ISABEL: Sorry I missed my session Monday.
DR. RUSH: Would you like to tell me why?
ISABEL: I was depressed.
DR. RUSH: That's a good reason to come to therapy. — Lisa Lutz

You should keep dental floss on you at all times; when your eyesight goes, quit driving; don't keep too many secrets, eventually they'll eat away at you. But the most valuable lesson he taught me was this: Every day we get older, and some of us get wiser, but there's no end to our evolution. We are all a mess of contradictions; some of our traits work for us, some against us. And this is what I figured out on my own: Over the course of a lifetime, people change, but not as much as you'd think. Nobody really grows up. — Lisa Lutz

She suspects her husband, Jake, might be gay."
"Did you suggest she ask him?"
Mom laughed. "Of course not. Business is slow. — Lisa Lutz

Milo refreshed Rae's drink and said, Talk to her. You need to get it off your chest." Then Milo turned to me and said, "Why don't you try a more subtle approach."
"I demand you tell me your troubles," I said to my sister.
"You're not as funny as you think you are," Rae replied. — Lisa Lutz

Have you heard about the demotion of the planet Pluto? I, for one, am incensed. How do you go your whole life being a planet and then, suddenly, you're not a planet anymore. Correction: dwarf planet. What does that even mean? I see an idiom taking shape. Five, ten years from now, when someone gets dissed or demoted or loses his or her job, people will say, "He was plutoed." "Are you plutoing me?" someone will say when witnessing a snub. "That was some pluto, wasn't it?" Hmm, I'm not sure about the syntax of the last one, but I think you get the gist. — Lisa Lutz