Quotes:

Falling in love for the first time is always dangerous, but when you're foolish enough to fall in love with a fictional character you can pretty much be assured it's going to be unrequited. Also, you're not going to be the first, or the last, for that matter, to have been involved with this fictional character. He's got a string of women, some of whom have been involved with him for years, rereading him again and again. And in the long run he belongs to his author, heart and soul.

- Alice Hoffman

"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.”
—Rosemary Urquico

"Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it… It really is worth fighting for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk everything, you risk even more."
-Erica Jong

"Love isn't perfect. It isn't a fairytale or a storybook, and it doesn't always come easy. Love is overcoming obstacles, facing challenges, fighting to be together, holding on and never letting go. Love is work, but most of all, love is realizing that every hour, every minute, every second of it was worth it because you did it... together."
-Unknown

IMPORTANT NOTE: I'd like to address all the confusion I've had lately with If It Passes The Time. Most of these are meant to be stand alone pieces. Some of them I'll feel compelled to continue and some of them not. I like to leave open endings and let the readers decide what happens after the story closes. So for everyone who is asking about the piece, "Tonight," it will NOT have a continuation. The situation is up for your interpretation, something that I enjoy doing in my writing. I'm sorry for all the confusion.

Coming Soon (In Order of Priority):

Rurouni Kenshin:

Impossible: Ruined during her late teens by a man she believed loved her, Kaoru turns to a life as a courtesan to regain the fortune she lost when her family disowned her. However she doesn't factor an extremely persistent red head into her plans, and chaos is all that ensues when he approaches her... (one chapter done) (M rating)

(Untitled) (title obviously going to change): As a noble, she was expected to show up at a formal ball every once in a while, but when her very first court appearence leads to romance, this blue blood doesn't know what to do or expect... (T rating)

(Untitled) (title obviously going to change): Kamiya Kaoru is an assassin. She carries her job out without emotion or feeling. The only thing she even remotely shows any kind of emotion towards is her never ending search for what was taken from her years ago. However, she never expected to have any kind of help from a complete stranger. KK (M rating)

Update Schedule: My life is a complete mess right now. I’m writing sporadically. But I am still continuing to look at, edit, and work on all of my old works.

And I realize that updates have been pretty much nonexistent as of late. And I apologize for that, but I'm here to tell you that I'm not abandoning anything! The Kingdom will be updated (I'm actually working on it right now...) and finished in it's own time. Thanks for everyone who has stuck by my fics! You guys are the best!

The Summoning: This will be my first priority. All that’s left is the epilogue. I have a few ideas kicking around in my head, but I’ve yet to hammer out the details.

If It Passes The Time: Ah, my very own drabble project! I've always wanted to start one and now I have! Anyway, I've got a few little drabbles stashed away and a ton (roughly forty) planned out so hopefully those will get put up fairly regularly. They're all KK based and most of them take place in an AU setting of some sort. There are a few pieces that aren't AU, though.

The Kingdom: ON HIATUS; NOT ABANDONED. So it's finally up! In case anyone's forgotten, or hasn't checked out If It Passes The Time, this story is the one that's going to go around Chapter Four: Defy Duty in IIPTT. Okay, so for everyone who is wondering, I AM STILL WORKING WITH THIS STORY. It will be updated and eventually finished.

(Untitled): (T rating). I'm expecting to get it out soon and hopefully come up for a title before that happens! It's about halfway done at this point in time.

Impossible is my new project. I started it a while back and have recently come to rescue it from the dust. I've completed the first few chapters and am planning on posting it fairly soon. However, I'd like to get a good jump on it before posting so there is less stress related to updating. Please be patient with me! I've got about six chapters written at this point in time. UPDATE: This is currently collecting dust. Again. But I have plans to finish it!