I Was Anastasia

The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—’tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.
—MARK TWAIN

There are few things more enjoyable to me than a good Author’s Note, and King’s are spectacular.

In high school I went through what I like to call my “Stephen King phase,” meaning that I read everything he’d written over the span of my sophomore and junior years.

This is how the human heart beats, a twisted staccato of love and envy, of anger and relief.

kisses are dangerous and we have been foolish enough for one night.

“We can only know that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.”

His gaze hovers protectively over Jimmy. And I love him for it.
It is an unnerving thought to have in such a moment.
I love him.

As women we are taught that bravery and valor exist in the grand gestures. We believe that kindness is weakness and arrogance is the same as courage. But it is not so.

The purpose of art, Gilliard had said as we stood on the polished marble floors of the Louvre, is to tell the truth.

This Too Shall Pass

The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived, and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.
—JOHN F. KENNEDY