Bennie Tarpley

“An interesting note to this novel is the fact that not only are a number
of the experiences related herein ones to which I am intimately familiar,
one is particularly unusual.
I wracked my brain for quite some time to come up with a suitable
near-death experience to use in the opening scene. As it turns out I had
an “AHA” moment, or more appropriately a “DUH” moment when it
occurred to me that I had actually survived the perfect experience to use.
As a result, the first scene and the near-death experience described here
was drawn, almost in its entirety from my OWN life, and I still retain
the scar.
I guess sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.”
― Jody Summers, The Mayan Legacy

“You can’t set fires, Anna. Never again. Promise.”
[Anna] aimed her defiance at Mary.
“And you? What’s your reason to hate me?”
Caroline spoke quietly. “We nearly died — in the fire in those mountains and at the house when Ravi had a gun pointed at us.” Her eyes were full of tears. “The fire you set at The Old Hospital could have killed me as well as Janet and Agnes.”
Anna muttered into the syrupy dregs of her tea. “Fire, you’re firing me?”
Mary grimaced. There had been too much fire.”
― Susan Rowland, The Alchemy Fire Murder

“How do we keep it?” asked Princess Sophie. “How do we keep the spirit of Christmas?”
“That’s the real magic,” said Lady Ariana. “If we love something so much, we have to give it away. When we do that, we get to keep it ourselves, too.”
― Mike Martin, Princess Sophie and the Christmas Elixir

“When you’re in The System, like after being arrested, you’re no longer a participant. You’re being processed. Instead of an easy to ignore, well-greased cog, you become a sharp edge that needs to be ground down.”
― Alan Bradley, The Sixth Borough