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41 " Create diverse characters because you can. Especially ones that aren’t easy to write. A character that scares you is worth exploring. Yet if you breathe life into a character and it comes to you too easily—say you’re writing from the viewpoint of a black man in America and you’re not one? Think hard about where your inspiration is coming from. "
― Mary H.K. Choi , Emergency Contact
42 " This is probably how emergency contacts work. You say something to your person before you go nuts and blow a gasket. "
43 " At least there was coffee. Reliable, delicious, life-giving coffee. "
44 " Penny Googled “imposter syndrome.”Informally used to describe people who are unable to internalize their accomplishments despite external evidence of their competence. "
45 " in art you had to shape experiences so that what you wrote was exciting - to the point where the mundane seemed magical and extraordinary. "
46 " You're way too hard on yourself. This analysis and thinking and plotting and figuring out, it's stopping you from living your life, "
47 " Sam sighed. Maybe if he called she'd tell him where she'd buried his balls and his heart. "
48 " Over the years, Penny inhaled the classics—Ready Player One, Dune, and Ender’s Game, though it wasn’t until she was introduced to Messiah, ironically from a guy who was the worst dude in the history of dudes, that she realized sci-fi didn’t have to be so . . . boy. "
49 " The thing about Sam was that he had a tell. Well, two. They weren’t an exact science, but they gave you a sense. One was his hair. He had a great head of hair. Dark and longer on top, his ex-girlfriend—who came up as “Liar” on his phone now—had referred to it as irresponsible hair. If it was relaxed and tucked behind his ears, Sam was chill. If it was slicked back, he was spoiling for a fight. If it was fluffy—a very rare treat—it meant he completely trusted whoever was around at the time. Sam’s hair hadn’t been fluffy in a while. Today it was tucked back yet also, kinda, done. With the telltale sheen of product. It was inscrutable. "
50 " But sometimes it's so incidental that these people are the parents. Beyond the biology of it. It's not as if they had to pass a test or unlock achievements to be the ones making the decisions. Sometimes they're actually stupid. "
51 " Plenty of people craved attention. It had to be the right person, someone who naturally commanded it. Sam suspected most outwardly noisy people were boring in the inside. No more than the textbook swirl of insecurities and narcissism. "
52 " I know I love someone when I can’t remember what they look like in any real way. I can never seem to recall whether they’re handsome or ugly or if other people think they’re cute. All I know is that when I’m not with them and I think about them, where their face should be is this big cloud of good feelings and affection. "
53 " The last thing I asked you was "You good?" Well, are you? I think about it all the time. "
54 " Unlike cooking, photography kept you on your toes. It was chaotic and human—utterly unpredictable. To capture an unposed face you had to wait for it. It was spear fishing. You had to move between the competing rhythms of the world and strike. "
55 " It wasn't a romance; it was too perfect for that. "
56 " Over the years, Penny inhaled the classics—Ready Player One, Dune, and Ender’s Game, though it wasn’t until she was introduced to Messiah, ironically from a guy who was the worst dude in the history of dudes, that she realized sci-fi didn’t have to be so . . . boy. J.A.’s work was like Ender’s Game, yet where Ender was smart and getting conned ’cause he was a kid, J.A.’s hero Scan knew her worth. "
57 " It makes me sickNO PUN INTENDEDIt’s sadWe criminalize the poorEverything is broken "
58 " Everyone is capable of putting words downOr telling a storyBut not everyone will actually do itThis class is about the doingAnd getting betterfeels professionalNot like a normal college classWhere you learn things you’ll never apply "
59 " It hurt Penny's heart how much she loved her. How scared she'd been when Michael called. Loving someone was traumatizing. You never knew what would happen to them out there in the world. Everything precious was also vulnerable. "
60 " People were odd. Sam loved and loathed that about them. Fiction was fine, but real life was the true freak show. "