Historic Fiction Quotes

“I'm too old to be ignorant as I am."
--Twelve-year-old Gabriella to the general, who does not want her to know about Emmett Till and the world's brutality.”
― Elle Thornton, The Girl Who Swam to Atlantis

“Father didn't want to seem weak in front of us and that itself was a weakness.”
― Maddy Kobar, From Out of Feldspar

“If you find that you're going through hell, keep moving. You will get to the end eventually.”
― Kimberly Brouillette, Abram's Journey: Quest For The Man In The Stars

“She was glad of this, her mind turning a corner as she let go of the past.”
― Laura Frantz, Moonbow Night

“For the funeral, I had to show my proper mourning face. Truly, I longed to break down and have a full-on emotional attack; perhaps if I let myself go long enough, I might get all the pain out of my system. I had no hope of doing such a thing in front of everyone I knew. It simply wasn't proper.”
― Maddy Kobar, From Out of Feldspar

“Again she dances on the edge of my consciousness, laughing at me in my dreams. This is only fair. I cast myself as her fool from the beginning. When I told her she could have anything of mine; she plundered my heart, dazzled my mind, taking whatever it was of mine that she pleased.”
― Maddy Kobar, From Out of Feldspar

“God... She closed her eyes. It's been so long since she prayed. She didn't deserve to be heard, and yet... The problem is I don't want to do this. I don't feel like it at all.”
― Melissa Jagears, Depending on You

“Want to know something funny? Even people capable of living in the past don't really know what the future holds.”
― Stephen King, 11/22/63

“Why would I want to die last?”
― Ally Wilkes, Where the Dead Wait

“I am like the blind man, witnessing magisterial beauty - Will”
― Rehan Khan, A King's Armour

“If Grandmother were still here, this trip wouldn't have been the disappointment I felt it was. She would have known what I needed. She had raised six children, with the help of the servants, mind you, but still, six children.

I had two girls now; I couldn't imagine any more. Grandmother's strength and wisdom were undefeatable in an age that had taxed women in so many ways; I couldn't even begin to imagine how many.”
― Maddy Kobar, From Out of Feldspar

“Tonight we are going to dazzle His Lordship's wealthy friends and leave them with empty purses, minds spinning that they allowed a couple of boys who once lived in the gutter to rob them so delightfully blind.”
― Maddy Kobar, From Out of Feldspar

“Why should I trust a man? Gentleman or street sweeper, I'll just get disappointed again." Percy sighs, shaking his head.”
― Maddy Kobar, From Out of Feldspar

“Bart stood quietly by me, letting me spill my senseless tears with the patience of a saint. I don't know how he managed to tolerate me so well. I didn't even tolerate myself that much.”
― Maddy Kobar, From Out of Feldspar

“Bart stood quietly by me, letting me spill my senseless tears. I don't know how he managed to tolerate me so well. I didn't even tolerate myself that much.”
― Maddy Kobar, From Out of Feldspar

“Two towering beasts were brought to us. I do not say this lightly for I am the tallest man I know and Alexander isn't that much shorter than me. These great horses looked me squarely in the eye; which was something most people couldn't manage. They were rather terrifying to behold; made entirely of muscle and grit.

"Yes, they're perfect." Alexander smiles and I wonder if he has lost his mind.

He puts a hand to each of their large muzzles. Rather than destroy him, the two massive horses seem calmed by his presence.”
― Maddy Kobar, From Out of Feldspar

“As a writer of historic fiction I feel little obligation to the precision of the facts, but I do feel a very strong obligation to the accuracy of the historic narrative.”
― Sam Foster, A Panther Crosses Over

“Those bright lilies don’t care where they grow,” the old man said. “They seem to especially like soggy ditches. A flower like that can draw beauty out of any old, rotten place. A gutter flower makes its gutter a better place just by being there.”
― Shawn P. McCarthy

“There is enough steam still in the pipes to feed its piston, but it has no real power. The wheel is nothing more than a spinning flower decorating a grave.”
― Shawn P. McCarthy

“You left your soul out of its box
Accessible to the rain”
― Shawn P. McCarthy

“There's no spring in his step. No smile on his face. There's just a grim determination, grown strong over the years due to the weight of its burden.”
― Shawn P. McCarthy

“... we never know what will happen next, what we will see, and what important person will come into our life, or what important person we will lose. Life is change, constant change, and unless we are lucky enough to find comedy in it, change is nearly always a drama, if not a tragedy. But after everything, and even when the skies turn scarlet and threatening, I still believe that if we are lucky enough to be alive, we must give thanks for the miracle of every moment of every day, no matter how flawed. And we must have faith in God, and in the universe, and in a better tomorrow, even if that faith is not always deserved- Pino Lella”
― Mark T. Sullivan, Beneath a Scarlet Sky

“Two strangers meet at the apex of light
and start discussing the anthems of fright.
Arguments, threats, and politics at heed
makes their hearts flutter like
a moth to a golden tree.”
― Hornbill Harcel, Where the Piopios Sing

“And I mean strode--like a man does, so different from how I normally walked. I focused on remembering the cadence of my steps, the swing of my arms, how my whole body moved through the world with unfeigned confidence, claiming the space I inhabited.”
― Erin Makela