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"After working as a journalist I went to a writing program at Johns Hopkins. It was interesting because it was neither journalistic nor historical, but it emphasized writing style, and afterwards I was asked to write my first book."
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"You spill a lot of beans in historical fiction. Crime fiction is about spilling no beans at all. You spill the least beans you possibly can. So because I had already written historical fiction before I was really good at the spilling beans section, but the new skill I had to learn when I was writing Brighton Belle was difficult. I had to avoid the equivalent of shouting, "this character's a murderer! Look who did it!."
Author Name
Personal Development
"Don't say it was delightful; make us say delightful when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers Please will you do the job for me."
Author Name
Personal Development
"Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy."
Author Name
Personal Development
"We write, edit, and rewrite the story of our own life employing descriptive words, metaphors, and symbols. Our lives are full of symbols including those supplied by nature and religion, which touch upon the mystical and spiritual aspects of life. Symbols inspire enduring hope by formulating idealist expectations."
Author Name
Personal Development
"I'm a fairly undisciplined writer."
Author Name
Personal Development
"Writing is the supreme solace."
Author Name
Personal Development
"Writers aren't exactly people, they're a bunch of people trying to be one person."
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Personal Development
"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
Author Name
Personal Development
"Pour your heart onto the page."
Author Name
Personal Development
"You like to write. It's the single most important quality for someone who wants to be a writer. But not in itself enough."
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"There are now hundreds of thousands of new engineers that are being trained in China. If people start finding themselves losing their jobs, not to the Chinese here but because China has become such a dominant force - then there could very well be a backlash."
People
"It is very difficult to hang onto the relics of history."
History
"I may attempt a novel. I think that no matter what you write, it requires being honest with oneself, and you have to pull yourself out of the whirlwind of daily life."
Life
"There isn't much discussion of ruling class in America even in Boston, probably one of the most class-conscious cities in the country?"
Society
"Of course, in the United States, which at the time was a very young country, there were also class distinctions. They weren't as pronounced, but they quickly evolved as well."
Time
"After working as a journalist I went to a writing program at Johns Hopkins. It was interesting because it was neither journalistic nor historical, but it emphasized writing style, and afterwards I was asked to write my first book."
Writing
"Almost all people have this potential for evil, which would be unleashed only under certain dangerous social circumstances."
People
"When you take something extremely broad, then it is not a work of expansion or work of compression. It's hard because you have to decide what to throw out."
Work
"There isn't much in the way of pure communist spirit, because the whole nation seems to be engaged in capitalistic enterprises. Much of the country still operates under government control."
Government
"Your first duty as a writer is to write to please yourself. And you have no duty towards anyone else."
Duty
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