Quotes from Elmore Leonard

She did Gladys Knight." "With the Pips or without? She does it both ways." "With the Pips.

The Zip was quiet, maybe trying to guess what was in Raylan's mind. He seemed curious. Finally he said, Okay, what do you want to tell me? Here's the deal, Raylan said. I'm giving you twenty-four hours to get out of this county and never come back. Raylan looked at his watch. That means you have until...two-fifteen tomorrow afternoon to clear out. If I see you're still around after that, I won't hesitate to shoot you on sight. You have any questions?

Karen, you fuck up and I get sent to White Fang, Alaska as resident agent . . .

Man, I'm the caretaker. He's staying while he does the work and I help him out some. What's your name? Louis Lewis. You putting me on? It's my name. You want me to spell it out for you?

He touched the funneled brim of his Stetson with two fingers and held open his ID case in the other hand, showing his star. He said, 'Raylan Givens, U.S. Marshals Service.

Time lost its meaning after a while and became only something that dragged hope with it as it went nowhere. Sometime

Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

A good investigator doesn't know what he's looking for till he sees it.

He walked in, I thought he was a farmer, or maybe a rancher. He looks like a cowboy, that raw-boned, outdoor type. Wears cowboy boots and a hat with a curled brim. The Marlboro man, Chip said. Yeah, except he's real.

I've been kidnapped," Kelly said. "I'm being held against my will, and I get fresh-squeezed orange juice?" "They do it at the market," Lloyd said. "Six-ninety-five a half gallon. It's nice and cold." Kelly said okay, orange juice and coffee, and turned to the window. It looked like it would be a nice day.

Everyone has his own sound. I'm not going to presume how to tell anybody how to write.

I decided to write Westerns because there was a terrific market for Westerns in the '50s. There were a lot of pulp magazines, like 'Dime Western' and '10 Story Western' that were still being published. The better ones paid two cents a word. And I thought, 'I like Westerns.'

I don't have any of the modern electronics at all. I know the Internet would be a distraction. I would see things that interested me and never get back to writing.

I think any writer is a fool if he doesn't do it for money. There needs to be some kind of incentive in addition to the project. It all goes together. It's fun to sit there and think of characters and get them into action, then be paid for it. I can't believe it when writers tell me 'I don't want to show my work to anybody'.

I really - I don't take my work that seriously, and I think that's what keeps me loose. If I try to write, if I catch myself trying to write, I'll fall right on my face. I'll see it. If I see in the prose that I'm - 'Boy, look at me writing,' I rewrite it. I rewrite it because I don't, because I think it's distracting.

I don't get in a position to be frightened. I don't do anything dangerous, and I always pay my bills.

People ask me, 'Why are you still writing books?' Like I'm still only writing to make money and as soon as I have enough I'll quit and go fishing? I like to write books. It's the most satisfying thing I do.

If work was a good thing, the rich would have it all and not let you do it.

Not dreams but night changes, not destiny but path changes, always keep your hopes alive, luck may or may not change, but time definitely chages.

I do have fun writing, and a long time ago, I told myself, 'You got to have fun at this, or it'll drive you nuts.'

I always felt, you don't have a good time doin crime, you may as well find a job.

I want the reader to know what's going on. So there's never a mystery in my books.

My purpose is to entertain and please myself. I feel that if I am entertained, then there will be enough other readers who will be entertained, too.

I got halfway through 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.' I don't get it at all. What's the big thrill? It's boring.