Guest Blog: Hilary Thompson

My Top Eleven Quotes (because eleven is my favorite number)

1. “If it be now, ‘tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now, If it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.” Shakespeare (Hamlet)

This quote is to remind me to work at my patience, and be ready for what I want, even if I have to wait longer than I want to.

2. “If there’s anything worth my love it’s worth a fight. We only get one chance, but nothing ties our hands. I know what I want, listen to me: nothing I want is out of my reach. I’m free.” Kenny Loggins (Footloose soundtrack)

I’m a passion person - I thrive on emotion and instinct. So this song was a staple of my teenage dancing years, and it still speaks to that heady, dizzy determination I get when I’m chasing down a dream.

3. “I must finish what I started, even if, inevitably, what I finish turns out not to be what I began.” Salmon Rushdie (Midnight’s Children)

I found this quote a long time ago, and it hit me at just the right moment. I was stuck in a mess of my own making and too stubborn to undo the tangles. So I did like Hermione and let the Devil’s Snare suck me under - then I was in a totally new place.

4. “Tout a été dit, mais pas par moi.” (Everything has already been said, but not by me.) Vigneault

Whenever I start to feel uncreative, or like all the good stories have already been taken, I remind myself that there is only one story - life. The difference is in who tells it and how they choose to tell it.

5. “Forever - what does that mean? It means we’ll manage.” Tricky

What does forever mean? This is my favorite definition - one that makes happily ever after sound realistic. I don’t think of “managing” as negative, either, as in just getting by. I think of it as being CEO of forever!

6. “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Such a wise man - Le Petit Prince has always been a favorite, both in English and French. How could you not love such common sense wrapped up in poetry?

7. “A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Sometimes the world gets us down and we forget the beauty that is living. I consciously don’t watch the news because I know my depression triggers - if I listen to every bad thing in the community, I lose sight of my hope. Instead, I listen carefully to the people around me and nurture my sense of beauty, whether through a walk outside or a stroll through Pinterest.

8. “Love is not blind - it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less.” Rabbi Julius Gordan

I can’t even explain how much I love this - it makes so much sense, especially to someone who has been married a while, and plans to stay that way!

9. “All things come to those who wait; some of us wait in ambush.” Andrew Vachss

I’ve mentioned I’m ambitious, right? This quote makes me laugh, even as I know how true it is. I’m always scheming…

10. “You always have to work against your past. It’s as though people expect you to blow one note all the time and I guess a lot of people can only blow one note. But there are people who can blow two or three notes, and I guess I am one of them.” Frank O. Gehry

Once upon a time I wanted to be an architect (I know, right?) and Gehry was and is my favorite. This quote might sound a little pretentious at first, but it’s a good reminder to me that I can keep changing my plans. Just like I used to reinvent my look every summer for the first day of school - I can do anything I want, even if it’s not what I was doing last year.

11. “Just because it makes sense to us, doesn’t mean the world will agree.” Hilary Thompson (Justice Buried)

Forgive me for being self-serving…I had to add one of my own! This is such a meaningful quote to me and to the book, said by the main character, Astrea. In context, the character is frustrated and feeling helpless, but she goes on to use these emotions to dig herself out of a difficult situation.

To me, this is such a teenager quote, and the real essence of why I love YA books. Young people are less practiced in bending to the expectations of the world - they dream, and hope, and plan ambushes for their dreams. We should all be so lucky to live at least a few days like this.

Check out Hilary's new book Justice Buried

Title: Justice Buried
Author: Hilary Thompson
Publication: January 15, 2014

The people need Justice, but she's not listening. One hundred years before, the Great Sickness reduced the  orld to three cities. Now the community of Asphodel is trapped underground, waiting for the prophesied maiden of Justice to return and save them from their Fates.

Sixteen-year-old Astrea is supposed to be this savior - too bad for them she isn't a believer. Trea fights against her false destiny: she rebels against her family and friends, then refuses her arranged marriage to the charming but deceitful Lexan. Learning her life is in danger, Trea is forced to trust Lexan - until she discovers a power she never knew she had, and one he already knew he did.

As betrayal closes every door, Trea decides she must submit to her stars and accept her fate. Then a handsome stranger offers her an unexpected escape and the chance to create her own destiny.

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