Octavio Cooke

“The early women rise before I do. Their lamps splinter the gloom of the kitchens. They chatter in whispers as they brew tea for the cooks. Windows are open to counter the heat of the ovens. Outside, the sky is as black as my soul.”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“Kumakura’s use of the word sensei, reserved for professionals, including doctors and lawyers, but which Japanese doctors tried to reserve to themselves, was tacit acknowledgment that Kumakura knew the hierarchy had changed.”
― L. M. Weeks, Bottled Lightning

“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

“It’s far more reliable than solar or wind power, which depend on mother nature, who is notoriously fickle; sometimes the sun don’t shine and the wind don’t blow.”
― L. M. Weeks, Bottled Lightning