Quotes from Sara Sheridan

I wanted to find something I could do at home. I sat down with a friend and made a list of all the things I could try, and one of them was writing a novel.

Most fledgling and mid-list writers are lucky to be offered a 4-figure sum and are not only expected to deliver copy that needs minimal editing but also take an active part in marketing and publicizing their work.

Something I notice speaking to writers from south of Hadrian's Wall is that the culture is different. At base, I think Scotland values its creative industries differently from England.

The writer is a mysterious figure, wandering lonely as a cloud, fired by inspiration, or perhaps a cocktail or two.

If we don't value the people who inspire us (and money is one mark of that) then what kind of culture are we building?

The financial value put on the job of the writer and the misconceptions around that make it extremely difficult to enter the profession.

Many existing top 20 Scottish writers have flourished in part because of good turns done by institutions, arts community, libraries and bookshops.

Having instant feedback on twitter to research material I'm considering is an enormous help.

Without archives many stories of real people would be lost, and along with those stories, vital clues that allow us to reflect and interpret our lives today.

History is full of blank spaces, but good stories, invariably, are not.

I've always had a keen sense of history. My father was an antiques dealer and he used to bring home boxes full of treasures, and each item always had a tale attached.

I have a very strong sense that we only know where we are by looking clearly at where we've come from.

To me, reading through old letters and journals is like treasure hunting. Somewhere in those faded, handwritten lines there is a story that has been packed away in a dusty old box for years.

Books have a vital place in our culture. They are the source of ideas, of stories that engage and stretch the imagination and most importantly, inspire.

Grabbing readers by the imagination is a writer's job.

The best historical stories capture the modern imagination because they are, in many senses, still current - part of a continuum.

Writers are a product of where we come from but by looking at alternatives to the culture in which we live, we can find ways to change and hopefully improve it.

There are so many ways to do research - even watching old Ealing comedies, watching people getting on and off buses in London, looking at household interiors.

The cosmetic industry really took off in the 1950s.

In a heartbeat, he understands why religions are born on the sands – there is nothing here for a man but his own mind.

Writing about the 1950s has given me tremendous respect for my mother's generation.

We can learn so much looking outside our core field of expertise.

I've never seen an 'English' books section in, well, an English bookshop, but in Scotland, most bookshops have a set of shelves dedicated to Scottish authors.

Often we don't notice the stringent rules to which our culture subjects us.