Favorites

Favorite Openings

The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting. – The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel. – Neuromancer by William Gibson

There was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. – The Dawn Trader by C.S. Lewis

The dead girl woke and asked for her perfume and we gave it to her and she slept again. – And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed

Parker kept a sun in his desk. He fed it gravel and twigs, and once his gum when it lost its flavor. – “Just Before Recess” by James Van Pelt

Favorite Sentences

A writer’s real work is the endless winnowing of sentences – Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Linkenborg

Sixteen years on the streets and you can learn a lot. But all the wrong things, not the things you want to learn. Sixteen years on the streets and you see a lot. But all the wrong sights, not the sights you want to see. – The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Favorite Quotes

“Bad writing is almost always a love poem addressed by the self to the self.” – Toby Litt

“You can’t change the people around you, but you can change the people around you.” – Unknown

“Beyond tomorrow is but yesterday.” – Unknown

Favorite Short Stories

“Making Do” by Italo Calvino

“Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler” by Wulf Moon

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe

“Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer” by Megan Grey

Favorite Books – Fiction

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Wump World by Bill Peet

Very Far Away from Anywhere Else by Ursula K. Le Guin

Favorite Books – Nonfiction

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

Show Your Work by Austin Kleon

Keep Going by Austin Kleon

Write On by Kathy Flann