Words I Wish I’d Written

She was fifty and tall for a Frenchwoman. Her figure was impressive, her hair rigidly...

“This is the camp of Lord Adron?” said Khaavren. “None other,” said the Dragonlord. “Well,...

She painted her face, but with such inattention to detail that Roberta was reminded of...

‘He’s a dear little man,’ said Lady Alleyn emphatically. ‘The nicest possible little man.’ ‘Not...

The cub, as Hambledon had called Gordon Palmer, was seventeen years old, dreadfully sophisticated, and...

The cocktail party ploughed on through a syrupy flood of mixed alcohols, mechanical compliments, second-hand...

Golter’s head snapped round as though it had been jerked by an invisible wire. He...

Maria went, back inside, and shut the door. It was just as well, since it’s...

‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions’ caused forty-eight hours of purgatory when...

We are who we are, where we are, when we are. And in that sense...

The shepherd doesn’t run after the sheep when they get straying; he shouts to his...

My office is in a building in midtown Chicago. It’s an older building, and not...

Paarfi of Roundwood is the supposed author of Steven Brust's "Khaavren" romances, which begin with...

Every captain in the Royal Navy had his personal steward, a manservant responsible for attending...

In the Royal Navy in Jack Aubrey's day, there was no naval academy. Boys from...

Captain Jack Aubrey is on a mission in the Baltic, and accompanying him is a...

Captain Jack Aubrey of His Majesty's Navy has invited several officers and guests to dinner;...

I chose this quote from Patrick O'Brian's Desolation Island because it seems to me to...

Lord Clonfert had the cabin of his sloop-of-war decorated in the Eastern style; now he...

Jack Aubrey sometimes misspeaks, and Stephen Maturin is always ready to help. Here, all hands...

Magrat arrived at as near to a run as was possible in the queen outfit,...

I panned Jack McDevitt's Ancient Shores a couple of days ago (I won't add injury...

Magrat put on her best dress, the green silk one that was unfortunately now a...

The Oggs were what is known as an extended family—in fact not only extended but...

Being an absolute ruler today was not as simple as people thought. At least, it...

If, somewhere, any possible world can exist, then somewhere there is any letter that could...

Oh, you could do it all by magic, you certainly could. You could wave a...

“You mean you knew there was going to be a murder before it even happened?”...

After we do the washing-up, I get to spend the rest of the evening reading...

I stretched my legs and studied the intricate architecture of the building. It was a...