Alissa Quotes & Sayings

Luckily I'm on prescription drugs that prevent me from worrying about anything too much. — Alissa Nutting

Siva without Sakti is a corpse;" this Tantric message continues to resound in the continuing human need for the unique wisdom to be gained by the union of the flesh and spirit. — Alissa Hall

There was something repulsive (and revealing) about talking on a cell phone while handling garbage. Why did anyone pretend human relationships had value? — Alissa Nutting

With surgical insight, Inside Madeline delves into the most complex female territory imaginable and dissects until every honest bone is revealed. Bomer's prose doesn't flinch, doesn't filter-the bravery of these stories left me breathless. — Alissa Nutting

Syd is behind us stuffing the last of his gear in his bag hastily. I woke him up late. I waited until Alissa and I were already set to go and he's scurrying to catch up with us. Was it on purpose? A power play of some kind? A petty manipulation on my part to feel in control?
You bet your ass it was. — Tracey Ward

I like to make sure I've all the facts before I shoot a man."
And with that, he turned about and headed for the door.
"What?" Adelaide blinked at his back, twice, before moving to intercede. "No! For pity's sake, not this again. — Alissa Johnson

Do you mean to stay on at Caldwell?"

"For a time," he replied.

It took all her courage and determination to meet his eyes. "Then we've time to know each other."

She'd issued exactly two invitations for friendship in her life, both of them to Max. God willing, this one would fare better than the last.

His smile was slow and perfect. "I do look forward to it. — Alissa Johnson

Let me enlighten you. We are a pack of liars, thieves, and wastrels, the lot of
us...There is not an honestly gained parcel of land in the whole earldom. Every acre, every village was stolen through one reprehensible manner or another. Deceit, blackmail, extortion, all of
it. It's disgusting."

Alex waited a moment to make sure Whit was quite through before asking, "How long ago?"

"Did we steal the land, do you mean?"
Alex nodded.

"Up until about a hundred years ago, then the wastrels took over. — Alissa Johnson

A lot of people who know about the view from the tip-top of a bridge or tall building are dead, because they climbed up in order to jump off. But sometimes I wonder if they truly planned on jumping or if the view was just so beautiful that they realized what a wide big net beauty is, and then wanted so badly to be caught by it. — Alissa Nutting

Much of how a person defined himself was through his interactions with the world. When that world was very small, it probably felt as if the opportunities for definition were very limited. — Alissa Johnson

After Mrs. Culpepper, Max probably knew more about her than any other person in her life. They were the only two people who knew of her dream to buy a country cottage. And he was the only one to know of her silly wish for a hound.

Which, now that she thought on it, was a sad state of affairs, indeed. She had no better claim to friendship outside of Mrs. Culpepper than a man with whom she'd spent such a nominal amount of time? And who had been read to toss her bodily from Caldwell Manor only yesterday?

Surely she had more depth of character than what could be mined in the course of an evening. She did not begin and end with her dreams of a thousand pounds, a hound, and a home. She was vastly more complex, far more interesting than that. She had to be. The alternative was too depressing to entertain. Almost as depressing as never having known a friend who'd not been paid to keep her company. But that, at least, could be changed. — Alissa Johnson

Like most pronounced flaws, it did not live in isolation. — Alissa Nutting

My poor family. I try to protect them from my work. My parents are very religious, and my brother and sister are very normal. We have an understanding, I think, that what I do isn't quite down their alley. — Alissa Nutting

You want to do all of these preventative things to make sure you always look as young as possible, you don't want to look your age. Looking young and attractive matters, even more than the type of person you are, even more than the actions you commit. — Alissa Nutting

Janet stood and began a wide navigation of turning one hundred and eighty degrees to enter her vehicle, her slow toddles calling to mind a sleepwalking badger. Her weak forearms often came alive to shoo away invisible hindrances, pawing the air with disgruntled choler. Before beginning the climb up the van's two carpeted steps, the most athletic portion of her adieu, she unceremoniously dropped her cigarette butt to the ground without extinguishing it. I got the feeling she hoped it might roll beneath the vehicle's gas tank and give her a true Viking burial. — Alissa Nutting

You know how some people are unlucky in love? I was always unlucky in exercise. I'd get into a relationship with a workout program or guru, we'd go steady for a few intense months, and then we'd have a really ugly breakup. — Alissa Nutting

Exercise will never be my lover. Or even my friend. For me, a workout is more like an annoying coworker I have to see a few times a week. — Alissa Nutting

He was quiet a moment, studying her. "I don't have a mistress."

"Oh. Well." What did she say to that? Good? Damned right, you don't? — Alissa Johnson

2 grilled chicken breasts, diced 1 avocado, peeled and diced 5-6 green lettuce leaves, cut in stripes 3-4 green onions, finely chopped 5-6 radishes, sliced 7-8 grape tomatoes 2 tbsp lemon juice 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp dried mint salt and black pepper, to taste — Alissa Noel Grey

I suppose one's view of that world is dependent upon how one arrived there, and whether or not one is allowed to leave. — Alissa Johnson

I don't consider myself attractive. I'm an academic, and in academia, people will write you off if you look younger. — Alissa Nutting

If you're a beautiful Caucasian woman, and you commit a heinous crime, it's like people don't want to acknowledge the reality of your actions. — Alissa Nutting

Aside from the inescapable realities of birth and death, we're responsible for the paths our lives take. We each make our own choices. — Alissa Johnson

He'd become so accustomed to having her there, right there next to him, that he found he could no longer go the day without needing to see her. Even the space of a few hours made him feel restless and dissatisfied. — Alissa Johnson

I'm a big people pleaser; I had a very awkward adolescence. Part of me is still that person who wants everyone to like me. — Alissa Nutting

My writing circle isn't too full of people who fall into the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought Tuesdays With Morrie" category. — Alissa Nutting

It was just such a complete shock to turn on the news one day and see someone that you know, someone you have passed in the halls of your high school. It got me thinking, 'Well, what are some novels that are about female sexual psychopaths? I really didn't have many references for that, and I felt like that was a void in transgressive literature that I wanted to fill.' — Alissa Nutting

Snow fell; I smoked and read John.

Why do pain and death make holy?

Out of what 'thou' was death born? — Alissa Valles

I wasn't about to admit to the lady I was hoping to impress that I wished to be a man of business. I wasn't that drunk."

Anna was certain that, for as long as she lived, she would never understand how it was the inebriated sorted out their priorities. Drunk enough to offer marriage, but still sufficiently sober to keep his secret? It was baffling. — Alissa Johnson

John K. Samson is fluent in the inexpressible. Find him on the page or find him in the ether-just find him — Alissa York

The drawing Anna was thinking of wasn't particularly wicked, not so far as drawings in Anover House went. It was a colored sketch of a young man and woman embracing in a sun-dappled garden.

Her embarrassment was not in the nudity portrayed ... well, not all the embarrassment ... it was in the sentiment. The couple were entwined in each other's arms, lost in each other's gaze, seemingly oblivious to the world around them.

For Anna, the picture was a sweet bit of ink and imagination that epitomized every silly romantic notion she'd ever had about falling in love. And it was that silly romanticism that embarrassed her. It was always a little uncomfortable to admit wanting something you knew you couldn't have. — Alissa Johnson

Thank you all for such a warm and generous welcome. As we all are perfectly aware, my first act as mistress of the house shall be to bed your master. Do excuse. — Alissa Johnson

There's a switch inside every one of us that I guess grew there as a necessary part of survival. How can you drag a fish up out of the river for your supper if you feel the yank of the hook in your own cheek? I get that part. We can't feel for everyone and everything all the time. We'd die of fear or sorrow a hundred times a day. The thing is, it's gotten so we flick the switch off like it's nothing. And, more often than not, we forget to turn it back on. — Alissa York

Courage is doing what is needed despite one's fear. Without the fear, it's merely . . . fearlessness." He — Alissa Johnson

But it was the aforementioned stubborn streak that had him executing his plan by striding down the halls of Lord Welsing's London townhouse, peering into rooms and stopping to question any passing staff, while guests danced and laughed in the ballroom. The young lady crucial to his matrimonial campaign had gone missing. Again. Miss — Alissa Johnson

Keeping a diary is advanced-level living. I spend way too much time trying not to curl up in the corner like a giant fetus & weep to keep a diary. — Alissa Nutting

It's a challenge of to write a narrator who is doing something that is really unlikeable and morally questionable. A lot of times, you read a book because you like the character, you are cheering for the character; you want the best for the character. — Alissa Nutting

My attorney rubbed his hand across his mustache and the corners of his lips several times, as though the allegation was a piece of cake he'd just eaten that had deposited crumbs all over his mouth. — Alissa Nutting

I think what tends to embarrass me most is how much I struggle at the little things that seem to come so easily to most people, mainly involving routine and self-care. It's hard for me to do things like cook a meal, not be in a constant apocalyptically late rush everywhere I go, to put something back when I'm finished with it. I seem to be hardwired for chaos and disorganization. — Alissa Nutting

How had things gone so terribly wrong? She wasn't supposed to be returning to Murdoch House in defeat, and she most certainly was not supposed to be returning alone.

Lilly should be there. And Gideon. High-handed, muleheaded, wonderful Gideon. She'd never admitted it, not even to herself, but a part of her had expected him to come back to Murdoch House with her. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that no part of her had been able to imagine going back without him. — Alissa Johnson

I've worked hard on my doctorate, and I want to be acknowledged for that. But I also wanted to comment on this message that women get that the most important thing they can do is police their appearance. — Alissa Nutting

I take my old seat by the window and start rapidly boozing. The lights change colors in ways that suggest I'm going too fast, and that is the speed I want to go. — Alissa Nutting

I really want readers to put themselves into the shoes of each character. So the opening lines are an orienting technique: this is where you are, this is who you are. Go. — Alissa Nutting

How can I wear a leather suit that does not carry the stains of wine and blood?" asks CT, and Gustav does not answer; of course it was rhetorical — Alissa Nutting

Now that you've gone looking for him, he won't be breaking his word. Not technically. You're fair game."
I lace my fingers through hers, trying to ground her. "You're freaking me out. Who are you talking about?"
"He'll come for you. He'll step through your dreams. Or the looking glass ... stay away from the glass, Allie! Do you understand?"
"Mirrors?" I ask, incredulous. "You want me to stay away from mirrors?"
She scrambles to her feet, and I struggle to balance on my crutch. "Broken glass severs more than skin. It will sever your identity. — A.G. Howard

Choose the one you want," he told her.

She giggled as the puppy contorted itself in an effort to lick her hand without rolling off its back. "Oh, you are silly, aren't you? Just the silliest little ..." Her hand stilled on the puppy. Her eyes shot to his. "What did you just say?"

"Choose which pup you'd like as your own."

"My own?"

"You wanted a hound," he reminded her.

"Yes, I ..." She looked at the dogs, then back at him. "Are you giving me a dog?"

"For the sake of propriety, we are to say it is a gift from your brother, but ..."

"But it's from you. You're giving me a dog," she said, and there was a notable catch in her voice.

"Well ... More or less." For reasons that baffled him, he suddenly felt equal parts embarrassed and pleased. "It was my idea." He cleared his throat, fought off the urge to shift his feet. — Alissa Johnson

Do you know what broccoli is like to your body? It is like a hundred-dollar bill. When you eat it, you are paying yourself with health. Do you know what a cookie is like? It is Monopoly money! You're giving your body fraudulent currency. — Alissa Nutting

Her breasts have a soft expanding look about them, like rising bread. — Alissa Nutting

That erasure was the gift I gave myself. — Alissa Nutting

The screams echoing through Janet's class were hard to bear. She was attempting a lecture on the Treaty of Paris while Mrs. Pachenko walked between the rows of desks insisting upon calm, raising a finger to her lips and whispering to individual students to please sit all the way down in their desks. In the back of the of the room, several kids were cheering as one of them, a young man whose shirt bore a flaming skull, stood hunched atop his desk like a motocross biker, sliding it forward in small hops. Students appear enthusiastic and are communicating well together, I wrote on the evaluation form. — Alissa Nutting

I've seen men in $5,000 suits urinate in public fountains here. Las Vegas is the best place on earth. — Alissa Nutting

I found that sometimes it was a relief to do something unattractive in private, to confirm that I'm deeply flawed when so many others imagine me to be perfect. People are often startled by my handwriting; because I'm pretty, they assume everything I do is pretty. It's odd to them that I write like I have a hook for an arm, just as Ford would be startled to learn I have a hook for a heart. — Alissa Nutting

During my MFA, I was lucky to be surrounded by a really supportive group of peers. And now I get feedback pretty exclusively from freaks only. — Alissa Nutting

I think humor is like a shield that lets you get as close to the sad sad flame as possible - far closer, oftentimes, than drama. — Alissa Nutting

...occasionally some of the mothers did see fit to bring their young children along to practice the valuable life skill of standing on the side of the road with indignation. — Alissa Nutting

I won't tell," he said, his arms holding my waist with amateur stiffness. I smiled, thinking about the lover he'd become and all the things he'd try with me for the very first time. I'd be the sexual yardstick for his whole life: Jack would spend the rest of his days trying but failing to relive the experience of being given everything at a time when he knew nothing. Like a tollbooth in his memory, every partner he'd have afterwards would have to pass through the gate of my comparison, and it would be a losing equation. The numbers could never be as favorable as they were right now, when his naivety would be subtracted from my experience to produce the largest sum of astonishment possible. — Alissa Nutting

His eyes took in the details of my body with a conflicted gaze that I knew well: even having seen all the facts of the case, he still wanted me. He wanted me despite knowing what that meant about him. — Alissa Nutting

I think that in our culture there is this message to males that any time you can have sex with an attractive female, you should do it. But for females you always have to guard yourself against it, sort of keep sex at bay. You don't want to get a reputation, especially when you are under age. — Alissa Nutting

Despite being told he could step down, Jack stayed for a moment,crying, then looked over at me. It wasn't at all the look of hatred I'd expected. Instead it was a look of mutual knowledge, Jack conveying to me his new understanding that the world could be a terrible place. His eyes said that no one at all was looking out for him or able to fix this essential flaw in life's fabric; my eyes stared back and told him that he was right. — Alissa Nutting

I was like a turd inside someone who'd accidentally swallowed an engagement ring: I was nothing, yet I carried something uniquely special. — Alissa Nutting

Las Vegas is incredible. Either you love it or you're a classy person with morals. I fall into the former category. It's definitely bled into my writing. — Alissa Nutting