Thomas Perry

“Yes, in my books I do edit myself to keep from becoming the Village Explainer.”

“If I don't have a project going, I sit down and begin to write something - a character sketch, a monologue, a description of some sight, or even just a list of ideas.”

“It was a lot of fun, and writing a series is comfortable. It's almost like having a secure job.”

“Contrary to what many writers imply about the process, nobody forces a writer to sell his work to the film industry.”

“I don't consciously do anything to maintain a unique voice.”

“Being comfortable isn't the way to learn to expand your abilities.”

“Reading a novel in which all characters illustrate patience, hard work, chastity, and delayed gratification could be a pretty dull experience.”

“What I look for in any character, good or bad, is whether I can hear him speak. If I can imagine him that clearly, then I can write about him.”

“I think we did a great job of putting together a program that would have made good e-books available had people been buying e-books in any real numbers.”

“I don't have dry seasons, because I don't allow them.”

“The characters you refer to as predatory and unsavory are useful. They're the ones who make a novel into a thriller. They're active, and most of the common virtues, the signs of a good person, are not.”

“I don't think the problem is that people don't read enough mystery books, but that people don't read.”

“All writers are mimics, and I'm not interested in picking up somebody else's style or voice.”

“I had been writing fiction since I was in eighth grade, because I loved it.”

“I do want to write about Jane Whitefield again, but only when I have a good enough idea - something I've figured out about her that's news and that's worth a reader's time.”

“I held a variety of jobs - most notably ten years working in universities - and kept on writing.”

“When I write a book, I'm making it the best book I can.”

“You have very accurately described the difficulty of presenting my books on film: many of my characters are alone most of the time, and when they do talk, what they say is mostly lies. That can make for a pretty confusing film.”

“Once you have invented a character with three dimensions and a voice, you begin to realize that some of the things you'd like him to do to further your plot are things that such a person wouldn't, or couldn't, do.”

“I do try not to spend much time reading in the suspense genre.”