Nancy Werlin Quotes & Sayings

Zach found himself remembering something he'd heard Soledad and Leo saying the previous night, about healing. That it was mysterious. That it took time. And that Lucy was just at the beginning. That a terrible thing had happened - two terrible things, really - but they were now over.
And that Lucy would be okay, in the end. — Nancy Werlin

Lucy had to guard her reputation - her reputation for sanity - the way that a woman a hundred years before would have had to guard her reputation for virtue. — Nancy Werlin

When you're living your life in endurance mode, you don't expect anything good to happen. I'm not saying that you don't dream about some miracle that would change everything for the better. But you pretty much know it's only a fantasy, and that you have no real control over anything. — Nancy Werlin

Music links us humans, heart to heart ... Across time and space, and life and death. — Nancy Werlin

You can be special without being extraordinary. — Nancy Werlin

If it ought to be done, then apply yourself to it strenuously — Nancy Werlin

We formed the fellowship of the ring when we should've all just gone on medication — Nancy Werlin

I used to want covers that represented the book's contents very closely and were also pretty. Many folks automatically believe that this is what makes a good cover. But I've changed my mind about this. While the cover should not lie (by implication or outright), its job is simply to say: 'Pick me up!' to someone who might like the book. — Nancy Werlin

Going back to my own past as a reader, I was a big, big reader of romances, particularly as a teenager, the age that my books are aimed at. — Nancy Werlin

Fear isn't actually a bad thing. It's a primitive instinct that's your friend. It warms you to pay attention, because you're in danger. It tells you to do something, to act, to save yourself. — Nancy Werlin

Sometimes the people who mean you harm, are the ones that say they love you. — Nancy Werlin

It was any outcast's nightmare.
If I looked carefully, I suspected I might find it beneath the black paint of the small acrylic by the window. — Nancy Werlin

The human instinct for self-preservation is strong. I know, because mine pulls at me, too, like the needle on a compass. And everybody - I've been reading some philosophy - everybody seems to agree that the instinct and responsibility of all humans is to take care of themselves first. You have the right to self-defense. You have the right to survive, if you can. — Nancy Werlin

I walked out. I left. Andy Jankowski had taught me how. — Nancy Werlin

But I know that I am not who I was supposed to be, who I could have been, and I know it's because I was too afraid for too long. It made me think about things I never should have. — Nancy Werlin

MATTHEW'S RULES OF SURVIVAL
1. Sometimes, the people who mean you harm are the ones who say they love you.
2. Fear is your friend. When you feel it, act.
3. Protect the little ones.
4. If you coped before, you can cope now.
5. Always remember: In the end, the survivor gets to tell the story. — Nancy Werlin

You start thinking about a character in a new book, of course you're going to think pretty soon, 'Well, what's their secret? What is their problem?' Maybe, 'What is their secret?' is another way of saying, 'What is their problem?' There's got to be some issue, or you've got a totally boring book! — Nancy Werlin

Leo and Soledad simultaneously gave out a sort of half laugh, half snort. It was loud, and it was relieved, and it broke the tension and caused Pierre to bark again, indignantly.
All of which meant that neither of them heard it when Zach turned to Lucy in that same second and whispered:
There's something else you need to know. I'm not just your friend. I am completely in love with you. — Nancy Werlin

No. It's actually not okay. And I hate when people say that, when they say it's okay even though it's not. It's better to tell the truth. — Nancy Werlin

Was true love when you wanted to slap someone and kiss him madly at the same time? — Nancy Werlin

Okay, I wasn't getting something, by there was nothing I could do about it. I wasn't the Buddha. I couldn't have a vision. Unless, maybe, it was drug-induced. — Nancy Werlin

I actually hope people don't react to 'Impossible' in a way where they think it's terribly retro. The plot needed to do what it needed to do. But I'm a little surprised to find myself looking a little bit like an advocate of teen marriage. It takes some exceptional circumstances for that to be a reasonable idea. — Nancy Werlin

From all of us Scarborough girls, greetings and thanks. This task required two, working together, trusting each other. It required the "us," not the "I." For that is true love, is it not? — Nancy Werlin

There was a mission: To match the cover of 'Extraordinary' to the cover of the paperback 'Impossible,' which was commercially successful. Consider the outdoor natural setting, the single girl in motion with her hair blowing, and the cursive font used for the title; both covers have these in common. — Nancy Werlin

No matter how beautiful and loved a cover may be, the jury on it remains uncommitted until the book has been in the world for a while. Perhaps bookstore buyers will be indifferent. Perhaps it will be lost on store shelves. Perhaps there's another book or two out there using the same or a similar photo. — Nancy Werlin

I've never felt just like me, just like Alison. I can't be myself in this family because it's more important that I be ... this person who's not ... Adam. Who's normal. Smart. Good. Who's not ... Autistic. — Nancy Werlin

As long as I live, when you need help, you will never need to beg anyone to notice. I won't just hang around thinking I ought to do something to help.
I will act. — Nancy Werlin

It's just that, right now, I want to hear you promise me that if we do run out of time and I go mad, like Miranda, it ends with me. The curse ends here, because our baby will be safe. You will make that happen. Isn't that so?"
It took him a minute. "Yes," he said finnally. "It's so. Although, if we're just going to talk about the baby, I can think of an easier way to save her."
Oh? What?"
I'd just lock her up from her sixteenth birthday on."
Lucy didn't laugh. "Don't think I haven't thought of that too, love. but here's the thing. That parents try that in all the fairy tales. It never works. — Nancy Werlin

I'm not saying I'm glad it happened. Not exactly. But I'm not sorry to be the person I am today, and to have the life I have now. Even though it's not what I thought I wanted for my future, a year ago, it is what I want now ... — Nancy Werlin

If you think you already know what you're looking at, you might not see what's really there. — Nancy Werlin

But just now, he'd gotten on his knees and proposed marriage, like in a television commercial for a diamond ring. Except of course they had the roll of duct tape instead, which, when you came to think about it, was a far more practical item. Such a bad mistake it would be, to embark on marriage and adult life without a nice supply of duct tape. — Nancy Werlin

What you did was enough," I said. "We didn't need a superhero. Just an adult who acted to help us when I asked. — Nancy Werlin

Continued pain is a signal to the body that there's something wrong, not right.
Lucy Scarborough
Nancy Werlin — Nancy Werlin

It is absolutely okay with me if you need to keep some secrets. I've been thinking about this and I decided that a best friend is someone who, when they don't understand, they still understand. — Nancy Werlin

Anyone in this world can have the power of life and death over someone else. It's horrible, but true. All you need to do is take it. And once you have
there is no going back. (The Killer's Cousin) — Nancy Werlin

People who're nuts never doubt their own sanity. (The Killer's Cousin) — Nancy Werlin

Always remember: In the end, the surviver gets to tell the story. — Nancy Werlin

Besides, Southerners are hospitable. They'll probably offer me lemonade."
Excuse me? You're going to sit on a porch and drink lemonade while I plow a swamp with a goat's horn?"
Yes, ma'am. And I aim to wear my seamless shirt while you do it. — Nancy Werlin

When you first fall in love, it's supposed to be awful. Awful, uncertain, scary, wonderful, confusing, all at once. That's how you know it's real. You have to care deeply. Passionately. That hurts. — Nancy Werlin

Nothing that had happened in the past could be taken away. This was an amazing gift. The past was done and over and settled; you couldn't get it back, but still, whatever good you had gotten from it, spiritually, emotionally, would be yours for your lifetime. — Nancy Werlin

But I know that I'm not who I was supposed to be. Who I could have been. And I know it's because I was too afraid for too long. — Nancy Werlin

I do seem to have a lot of family secrets in my novels. I guess I'm one of those writers who is often writing about the same sort of themes, but taking different angles on them. — Nancy Werlin

'Extraordinary' is an original fairy tale, a contemporary story. But like a traditional fairy tale, it heads quickly into frightening, bloody territory. I am afraid for my book, as it goes out alone into the world, just as I was frightened for Phoebe as I wrote and rewrote her story. — Nancy Werlin

Jews put black over mirrors during times os mourning so they wouldn't think about themselves. But I never did look in mirrors anyway, because I disliked myself. No, wait. I disliked my appearance. — Nancy Werlin

I think you have a right to whine. Honestly, Lucy. We all have the right to whine when life gets tough. — Nancy Werlin

Demons are real. Since I'm not religious, I think of them as metaphors for the evil desires and impulses all humans have. A religious person can think of them as separate evil beings that can possess you. Either way, I believe they exist, lurking patiently around and in us, whispering their twisted points of view, ever alert for an opportunity. The sudden chink in your armor when you're tired, frightened, or angry. The invitation you issue in that moment of vulnerability. — Nancy Werlin

Emmy, the events we lived through taught me to be sure of nothing about other people. They taught me to expect danger around every corner. They taught me to understand that there are people in this world that mean you harm, And sometimes, they're the people who say they love you. — Nancy Werlin