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"Continuity is one of the things I like about New England."
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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!."
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"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."
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"Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy."
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"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."
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"I'm a fairly undisciplined writer."
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"Writers aren't exactly people, they're a bunch of people trying to be one person."
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"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
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"Pour your heart onto the page."
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"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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"One of my rules is never explain. A writer is a lot like a magician, if you explain how the trick works then a lot of the magic turns mundane."
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"I know that to write you have to have stories you want to tell. You have to keep your mind alive, and you have to work hard."
Work


"I tell beginning readers to read a lot and write a lot. If you want to write a book, find a subject that's really worth the time and effort you'll put in."
Time


"Continuity is one of the things I like about New England."
Writing


"People say you can't teach writing, but I think that's nonsense."
People


"The combination of domesticity and wildness - that's a deep expression."
Society


"When I select a topic, it's usually a commitment of two to three years of my life."
Life


"Things were here before you and will be here after you're gone. The geographic features, especially, give you a sense of your own place in the world and in time."
Time


"I want my prose to be as clear as a pane of glass."
Writing


"I think if the writing comes too easily, it shows - it's usually hard to read."
Writing


"What interests me is trying to catch the reflection of the human being on the page. I'm interested in how ordinary people live their lives."
People
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