The Best Of: Author Excerpt Series
The best of: Author excerpt series.
*******
There are so many incredible writers, so much talent, and too many books to ever try to read them all. I thought, in light of that fact, it would be nice to share some of the best of the best. Quick little hints of what lies inside the pages of some of the books from my favorite authors.
JK Rowling:
“Dumbledore watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears.
“After all this time?”
“Always,” said Snape.
~ JK Rowling, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows
English: J. K. Rowling, after receiving an honorary degree from The University of Aberdeen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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November 22, 2013 | Categories: Author, Quotes, Young Adult Novels | Tags: Albus Dumbledore, author excerpts, author quotes, Fantasy Authors, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling, laney mcmann, Severus Snape, YA Fiction | Leave a comment
The Best Of: Author Excerpt Series
The best of: Author excerpt series.
*******
There are so many incredible writers, so much talent, and too many books to ever try to read them all. I thought, in light of that fact, it would be nice to share some of the best of the best. Quick little hints of what lies inside the pages of some of the books from my favorite authors.
First up, the amazing, Neil Gaiman.
“I think I fell in love with her, a little bit. Isn’t that dumb? But it was like I knew her. Like she was my oldest, dearest friend. The kind of person you can tell anything to, no matter how bad, and they’ll still love you, because they know you. I wanted to go with her. I wanted her to notice me. And then she stopped walking. Under the moon, she stopped. And looked at us. She looked at me. Maybe she was trying to tell me something; I don’t know. She probably didn’t even know I was there. But I’ll always love her. All my life.”
~ Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 8: World’s End
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November 15, 2013 | Categories: Author, Inspiration, Quotes, Writing | Tags: Arts, Author, author quotes, Fantasy Authors, Fiction, laney mcmann, Literature, Neil Gaiman, Sandman, writing quotes | Leave a comment
It is not the critic who counts …
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
~ Teddy Roosevelt
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October 4, 2013 | Categories: Inspiration, Quotes, Writing | Tags: Advice on writing a novel, Arts, goal accomplishment, Inspiration, Quotes, Theodore Roosevelt, Triumph, Writing | Leave a comment
Anything In Life Worth Having …
“Anything in life worth having is worth fighting for.”
~ Susan Elizabeth Phillips
As TIED went live two weeks early (Amazon only so far), I’m reminded of this quote. Of how true it is.
So, don’t give up, or give in, or walk away. Fight for what you want, work for it—believe in it.
Don’t be afraid to take the chance.
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August 30, 2013 | Categories: A Fire Born Novel, Author, Quotes | Tags: Amazon, Author, goal accomplishment, Inspiration, J. Taylor Publishing, laney mcmann, Literature, The Fire Born Novels, TIED by Laney McMann, young adult book releases 2013, young adult urban fantasy | 2 Comments
The Only Thing That Can Make You A Writer …
Really, in the end, the only thing that can make you a writer is the person that you are, the intensity of your feeling, the honesty of your vision, the unsentimental acknowledgment of the endless interest of the life around and within you. Virtually nobody can help you deliberately — many people will help you unintentionally.
– Santha Rama Rau
*Originally posted October, 2012
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July 26, 2013 | Categories: Quotes, Writing | Tags: Advice on writing a novel, Editing and Proofreading, Inspiration, laney mcmann, novel creation, Quotes, Writer, Writer Resources, Writers Resources, Writing, Writing process, YA paranormal romance author | Leave a comment
Writing A Novel Is Like …
“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”
-E.L. Doctorow
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July 5, 2013 | Categories: Quotes, Writing | Tags: Advice on writing a novel, Arts, Author, Book Writing, el doctorow, Fiction, goal accomplishment, Inspiration, laney mcmann | Leave a comment
We Who Make Stories …
“We who make stories know that we tell lies for a living. But they are good lies that say true things, and we owe it to our readers to build them as best we can. Because somewhere out there is someone who needs that story. Someone who will grow up with a different landscape, who without that story will be a different person. And who with that story may have hope, or wisdom, or kindness, or comfort. And that is why we write.”
~Neil Gaiman — The Graveyard Book
** I am a such a Neil Gaiman fan if you guys haven’t noticed.
Related articles
- Put One Word After Another: Neil Gaiman’s Eight Rules of Writing (aerogrammestudio.com)
- Neil Gaiman Drops Knowledge (mentalfloss.com)
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June 4, 2013 | Categories: Author, Inspiration, Quotes, Writer, Writing | Tags: American Gods, Arts, Author, Coraline, Fiction, goal accomplishment, laney mcmann, Neil Gaiman, novel writing, Online Writing, Sandman, Twitter, Writers Resources, Writing Advice, writing quotes | 3 Comments
Fantasy Is Hardly An Escape …
“Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.”
~ Lloyd Alexander
Related articles
- Fantastic reality (fingerprintskavita.wordpress.com)
- “Even Nothing Cannot Last Forever” (thesecretkeeper.net)
- “Fantasy is esc… (deathofanauthor.com)
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May 30, 2013 | Categories: Inspiration, Novel Writing, Quotes, Thoughts, Writing | Tags: Arts, Author, Fantasy, Fantasy world, Fiction, laney mcmann, Lloyd Alexander, novel writing, Quotes, Science Fiction and Fantasy | 4 Comments
… If You’re Brave Enough …
“Some of this book — perhaps too much — has been about how I learned to do it. Much of it has been about how you can do it better. The rest of it — and perhaps the best of it — is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.”
~Stephen King (On Writing~A Memoir of the Craft)

Stephen King, American author best known for his enormously popular horror novels. King was the 2003 recipient of The National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Taken at the 2007 New York Comicon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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May 8, 2013 | Categories: Author, Inspiration, Quotes, Writing | Tags: Advice on writing a novel, art, Stephen King, Writers Resources, Writing, Writing and Editing, Writing Tips | 4 Comments
May Your Coming Year Be Filled With Magic …
“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”
~ Neil Gaiman
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April 16, 2013 | Categories: Author, Quotes, Writing | Tags: Author, Fiction, Inspiration, laney mcmann, Literature, Neil Gaiman, Quotes | Leave a comment
Imagination, Not Invention …
Only in men’s imagination does every truth find an effective and undeniable existence. Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art as of life.
~ Joseph Conrad
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April 9, 2013 | Categories: Inspiration, Life, Novel Writing, Quotes, Writing | Tags: Advice on writing a novel, Arts, Fiction, Inspiration, Joseph Conrad, laney mcmann, novel writing, Quotes, Writer, Writing Advice | Leave a comment
If You Dare Nothing …
“If you dare nothing, then when the day is over, nothing is all you will have gained.”
~ Neil Gaiman (The Graveyard Book)
Related articles
- We Who Make Stories … (laneymcmann.com)
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March 29, 2013 | Categories: Author, Inspiration, Quotes, Writer, Writing | Tags: American Gods, Arts, books, Coraline, Graveyard Book, laney mcmann, Literature, Neil Gaiman, Quotes, Writing Advice | Leave a comment
Everybody Has A Secret World …
“Everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody — no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds… Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.”
~Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol: 5, A Game Of You
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February 21, 2013 | Categories: Author, Inspiration, Life, Quotes, Writing | Tags: Dream, Neil Gaiman, Sandman, The Sandman: A Game of You | Leave a comment
St. Valentine’s Day
“No, I don’t think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That’s what’s wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.”
One of THE best lines ever written in my opinion. Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone. 😉
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February 14, 2013 | Categories: Author, Books, Life, Quotes, Writing | Tags: Arts, Author, Gone With The Wind, laney mcmann, novel writing, Relationships, Valentine, Valentines Day | Leave a comment
Fear Stops Most People …
“If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent. Who am I? What right have I to speak? Who will listen to me? You are a human being with a unique story to tell. You have every right.”
– Richard Rhodes
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January 16, 2013 | Categories: Inspiration, Novel Writing, Quotes, Writing Tips | Tags: Advice on writing a novel, Arts, Author, Blog, Education, Fear, goal accomplishment, Inspiration, laney mcmann, Richard Rhodes, Writers Resources, Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Exercises | Leave a comment
Promises
We make so many promises as writers with a hope we can fulfill them all.
~Laney McMann
**As I sit finishing my final blurb for TIED, I’m reminded of this fact. Thought I’d share it.
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January 13, 2013 | Categories: Author, Inspiration, J Taylor Publishing, Novel Writing, Quotes, Thoughts | Tags: blurbs, Book, excerpts, J. Taylor Publishing, laney mcmann, teens, The Fire Born Novels, TIED A Fire Born Novel, TIED by Laney McMann, YA Fiction | Leave a comment
Always Dream
“Always dream and shoot higher than you know how to. Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”
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December 20, 2012 | Categories: Author, Quotes, Writing, Writing Tips | Tags: Advice on writing a novel, Author, Dream, goal accomplishment, Inspiration, laney mcmann, Quotes, William Faulkner, Writing Tips | 1 Comment
You Must Be Prepared …
“You must be prepared to work always without applause.”
~Ernest Hemingway

English: Hemingway posing for a dust jacket photo by Lloyd Arnold for the first edition of “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, at the Sun Valley Lodge, Idaho, late 1939. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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December 5, 2012 | Categories: Author, Inspiration, Novel Writing, Quotes | Tags: Advice on writing a novel, Arts, Ernest Hemingway, Fiction, goal accomplishment, Inspiration, laney mcmann, Quotes, Writing process | Leave a comment
It Is Impossible To Live Without Failing …
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”
~j.K. Rowling
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November 28, 2012 | Categories: Author, Inspiration, Quotes, Writing | Tags: Advice on writing a novel, Author, Fiction, goal accomplishment, Inspiration, J.K Rowling, laney mcmann, Writer Resources, YA Fiction | Leave a comment
Anything Is Possible …
“Anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve.”
~ J. K. Rowling
English: J. K. Rowling, after receiving an honorary degree from The University of Aberdeen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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November 21, 2012 | Categories: Author, Inspiration, Quotes | Tags: Author, Children's literature, Fiction, goal accomplishment, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, Inspiration, JK Rowling, laney mcmann, Literature, Novel, Tales of Beedle the Bard, Writers Resources, ya fantasy author, YA paranormal romance author | Leave a comment
The Treasure That You Seek
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek.”
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November 16, 2012 | Categories: Author, Inspiration, Quotes, Writing | Tags: Arts, Author, goal accomplishment, Inspiration, Joseph Campbell, laney mcmann, Literature, Mythologists, Mythology, myths, Myths and Folktales, Power of Myth, ya fantasy author, YA Fiction, YA paranormal romance author | 1 Comment
Everyone Has Talent …
Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.
~Erica Long
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November 9, 2012 | Categories: Author, Quotes, Writer | Tags: Fiction, goal accomplishment, Inspiration, laney mcmann, Quotes | Leave a comment
I Believe
“I believe legends and myths are largely made of truth …”
~ Tolkien
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November 7, 2012 | Categories: Author, Quotes, Writing | Tags: art, Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien, laney mcmann, Literature, Lord of Rings, Middle-earth, myths, Myths and Folktales, Quotes, YA paranormal romance author | Leave a comment
It’s Always Too Early …
“It’s always too early to quit.”
–Norman Vincent Peale

Norman Vincent Peale, Christian preacher and author of The Power of Positive Thinking (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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November 5, 2012 | Categories: Publishing, Quotes, Writing | Tags: Editing and Proofreading, Inspiration, laney mcmann, New Age, Norman Vincent Peale, Power of Positive Thinking, Quotes, Rewrites, Writing and Editing, Writing process, Writing Tips, YA paranormal romance author | 1 Comment