Joe Kraus

“You can't choose where you belong, and where you don't. But what if the place you don't belong is the only place you have left?”
― Stuart Neville, The Ghosts of Belfast

“"Wonderful things can happen", Vincent said, "when you plant seeds of distrust in a garden of assholes."”
― Elmore Leonard, Glitz

“Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing

1. Never open a book with weather.
2. Avoid prologues.
3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said”…he admonished gravely.
5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”
― Elmore Leonard