No, actually 'The Host' was totally a palate-cleanser for me. I wanted to do something a little bit different than romantic love. Romantic love is in there, obviously, because I enjoy writing about that and living it a lot.

The thing about the sun… is that it’s always there. Like sometimes, you can’t see it, but it never really goes away.

My lungs filled deep with the sweet scent that came of his skin. It was like there had never been any hole in my chest. I was perfect- not healed but as if there never had been a wound in the first place.

The ticking seconds pulled me toward the end. It was cold when he no longer held me. It got colder every step I took away from him. Just my imagination, of course. It was still summer here. It would always be summer here for me.