The Artificer's Apprentice (Small-Town Crafter #1)

by Tom Watts

“Better to offend than mollify,” she told me once. “Offended people talk about you way more than anyone else.”

1. Fifty-seed Bread – white bread, no exceptions. 2. Thrice Honeyed Ham - cured ham, no exceptions. 3. West Fardale Cheese - a soft cheese, no exceptions. 4. Pickled herring - from the Rysedale river, no exceptions. Thus was Cooper's recipe for the Artificer’s special.

slice of cheese sandwich between two dry slabs of bread, which Cooper laughingly called the Apprentice’s Special.

"Step one: Learn how to build the tools you need. Step two: Use them. And step three: Think about how to improve upon them."

Apprentice's Prerogative. The Prerogative - so I had read - was the right or the duty of an apprentice to listen in to their master’s conversations…as long as they didn’t get caught.

I was going to be spending a lot of time in this workshop, I realized. As Master Cooper used to say, "There's a reason you never see an artificer with a tan."

"Compliments make you weak because they can trick you into thinking you've finished your journey when the heels of your boots aren't even worn down yet. Praise is a song to the ears but an enemy of improvement."

"Patience is an artificer’s tool," I told them.

I read the title of one book - 'The Seventeen Commandments For Thriving as a New Business Owner: You Won’t Believe Number Sixteen'.

She produced a pencil and a notepad already crammed with meticulous notes packed so dense the paper underneath didn’t have room to breathe.

“I must say, you sound very chipper for someone on the verge of disaster,” said Paisley. “Healer Brown has given me quite a lot of potion.”

naivety is the currency with which experience is bought.

"I'm not upset. Just allowing my eyes to complete their scheduled water maintenance. The sign is perfect. And I like the name."

"Never to waste will we rend, an item that a tinkerer could mend. Shoes and tools, combs and spools. A spot of grease and a happy tune, a broken thing is a tinkerer's boon."

"Healer Brown says you're to cut butter out of your diet," I said. "That damned man." "I know. Trying to save your life. He makes me sick."

freshly baked chili flake bread loaves.

The longer you live, the more life seems to resent you for it."

You ask me, you're better off not getting involved in love. It's a scam. Never ends well."

I was almost loath to let my bad mood thaw. That’s the thing about foul moods. None of us want them, but when a loved one tries their best to make our moods go away, we're reluctant to let it happen. As though having our temper taken away from us through kindness is a defeat.