キャミー・タング著「戌年」連載小説 プロのドッグトレーナーであるマリ・ムトウは、厄年を迎えている。 犬小屋と訓練所の改築をしながら、いつも不服そうにしている家族と同居することになった。母と姉に言わせれば、犬の毛とよだれかけにまみれる仕事は、家族にとって恥ずべきものだという。彼女は元カレを説得し、数ヶ月間犬を預かってもらうことにした。しかし、彼の兄は、数週間前に彼女が誤って車に追突した、怒り狂ったセキュリティ専門家であることが判明する。 アシュウィン・ケイトウは十分な問題を抱えている。叔母が玄関先に現れ、同居を希望している。彼は彼女にすべてを借りているので、断ることができません。母親が家を出て行った後、ネルおばさんはアシュウィンと弟を引き取り、愛のあるキリスト教の家庭で育てた。しかも、弟のダスティもアパートを追い出され、居場所を求めている。しかし、彼は犬を飼っている。そして、その犬の飼い主は誰だと思いますか？ しかし、旧友でオアフ島のノースショアでデイスパを経営する私立探偵のエディサ・ゲレロから依頼を受ける。マリの施設で奇妙な破壊行為があり、3年前に失踪したエディサの妹の財布を発見する。エディサはマリが危険な目に遭っているのではと心配する。警備の専門家であるアシュウィンがすでにマリを知っていることを知ったエディサは、忙しい若い女性を密かに監視することを彼に依頼する。 アシュウィンは、活発でのんびりとしたドッグトレーナーに不本意ながら惹かれていく。彼女は、幸せそうな母親を思い出させる。その母親の裏切りによって、彼は人と距離を置くようになったのだ。マリは、アシュウィンの冷たい外見を見抜き、彼が家族に忠実な男であることを認める。彼は、彼女のキャリア選択を批判するだけの母親や姉とは違う。 マリのバラバラな家庭とアシュウィンのバラバラな家庭の中で、過去を隠そうとする人たちから、彼らの周りに危険が迫ってくるようになる。彼らは、影で動く秘密に光を当てることができるのか？ 過去に発表されたパートへのリンクはこちら。 *** 第8章 - 恐ろしくも真っ白な不動産書類 『みんな仲良くできないのかな？』 マリは無用に力を込めて箱に本を投げ入れた。最近、なぜ彼女は人生の中で全員と言い争いをしているのだろう？もしかすると、これは本当に悪いアイデア
Update 5/2009: This was originally posted back in 2007, but I've added a few more quotes and I'm always looking for more that strike my fancy. So comment with your favs--I might like it enough to add it to my list!
(I decided to start a list of favorite quotes. Yes, it's rather short right now. I'll keep adding as I find more I like)
The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.--Robert Cormier
"It would be ridiculous for the donkey that carried Jesus to think that all the celebration and applause was for him."
A King may move a man, a father may claim a son, but remember that even when those who move you be Kings, or men of power, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God, you cannot say, "But I was told by others to do thus." Or that, "Virtue was not convenient at the time." This will not suffice. Remember that. –King Baldwin IV, Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure. --Elizabeth Bennett, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you. --William Gladstone, British Prime Minister
A woman’s heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her. --Maya Angelou
Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the bug
--"The Bug" by Mary Chapin Carpenter
If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out? --Will Rogers (1879-1935)
I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. --Rita Rudner
I found simply imitating Jesus and leaving the results to God to be the scriptural approach. If God thought my contribution significant, He would arrange a wider hearing. It was not my business to be concerned about it. With this new outlook, obscurity was no threat, and fame no temptation. My reality was better, the anxiety space was closed, and my anxiety receded. --Anxious for Nothing by Bill Hull (thanks to Cynthia Ruchti for this quote)
"If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving's not for you." --unknown, I got this from my friend Erin Kawaye
Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank piece of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. --Gene Fowler (thanks to James Scott Bell for this quote)
If people were meant to pop out of bed, we'd all sleep in toasters. --Author unknown
Got any good ones?
(I decided to start a list of favorite quotes. Yes, it's rather short right now. I'll keep adding as I find more I like)
The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.--Robert Cormier
"It would be ridiculous for the donkey that carried Jesus to think that all the celebration and applause was for him."
A King may move a man, a father may claim a son, but remember that even when those who move you be Kings, or men of power, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God, you cannot say, "But I was told by others to do thus." Or that, "Virtue was not convenient at the time." This will not suffice. Remember that. –King Baldwin IV, Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure. --Elizabeth Bennett, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you. --William Gladstone, British Prime Minister
A woman’s heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her. --Maya Angelou
Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the bug
--"The Bug" by Mary Chapin Carpenter
If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out? --Will Rogers (1879-1935)
I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. --Rita Rudner
I found simply imitating Jesus and leaving the results to God to be the scriptural approach. If God thought my contribution significant, He would arrange a wider hearing. It was not my business to be concerned about it. With this new outlook, obscurity was no threat, and fame no temptation. My reality was better, the anxiety space was closed, and my anxiety receded. --Anxious for Nothing by Bill Hull (thanks to Cynthia Ruchti for this quote)
"If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving's not for you." --unknown, I got this from my friend Erin Kawaye
Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank piece of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. --Gene Fowler (thanks to James Scott Bell for this quote)
If people were meant to pop out of bed, we'd all sleep in toasters. --Author unknown
Got any good ones?
Comments
Have you seen the Father Tim journals by Jan Karon? They are great inspiration for writers and quote lovers.
"As little, I should think, can it matter whether the writer so designated is a man, or a woman, as one or two of my critics profess to have discovered. I take the imputation in good part, as a compliment to the just delineation of my female character; and though I am bound to attribute much of the severity of my censors to this suspicion, I make effort to refute it, because in my own mind, I am satisfied that if a book is a good one, it is so whatever the sex of the author may be." Anne Bronte, 1848 in response to a scathing review.
"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."
Thorton Wilder
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those that mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ---Dr. Suess
“Life is not about how many breaths you take; it’s about how many of life’s moments take your breath away.”
"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart." ---Kahlil Gibran
"For those of you that say nothing is impossible.....try slamming a revolving door."
The Cloister and the Hearth (1861) --- Charles Reade
I'm glad you shared it.
- Isaac Asimov
If God gives you something you can do, why in God’s name wouldn’t you do it?
~Stephen King
"Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere." Anne Lamott
"Wipe the blood off...and continue." Crystal Laine Miller (ha, while playing golf...)
~ Winnie the Pooh (A.A. Milne)