Joan Mautte

“Fair enough, that's what most people look for to begin with, but money can be a sliding scale, the more you have, the more you want, the more you need,' McBlane said as he sharpened the ash on the tip of his cigar into a point against the rim of the ashtray. It gave him the appearance of wielding a dagger as he gestured with his cigar holding hand.”
― R.D. Ronald, The Elephant Tree

“Words are like arrows, Arianne. Once loosed, you cannot call them back.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Feast for Crows

“The same thing happened to me, only worse. Worse because it happened to me.”
― Anonymous, Diary of an Oxygen Thief

“Madame? What do I look like?”
“You have many thousands of freckles.”
“Papa used to say they were like stars in heaven. Like apples in a tree.”
― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See