Quotes from Will Hobbs

Pacing has become more important than ever, largely because of other media. I've always tried to start my stories out with a bang, something that will hook their attention.

'Changes in Latitudes' began when I was looking at a photograph of a sea turtle swimming underwater. I had such a strong feeling for the beauty of this ancient creature, at home in the sea. On the spot, I wanted to swim with that turtle. I began to imagine a character who would do just that.

The Internet is like a gold-rush; the only people making money are those who sell the pans.

Old Japanese saying, live scorpion in pants makes life interesting.

Dreams aren't practical, but we can't live without them.

Dusty rarely barks, but did she ever send up a clamor now, barking like there was no tomorrow.

Like everything else, the beans had exploded with growth in the last few days. "Holy jumping garbanzos!" my father declared. My mother answered with, "Great leapin' limas!

If somebody's going to tell me I can't do something, I'll break every bone in my body proving them wrong.

I'll make a beautiful corpse.

When my father returned from the garbanzos, he verified my story about Dusty's illustrious career as an archaeologist. He wasn't too pleased about her having had a relapse, and gave her a good talking-to.

This blue one's a smart'un. See how he puffs out his gut so you won't cinch him tight? And then the saddle falls off later and you with it." Cloyd laughed. "Better not let him hear you . . ." "He thinks he's fooled us," Walter whispered. He turned away as if he was done, then winked and quickly cinched in a few more notches. "I wasn't born yesterday," he said.

If I could interview that horse, Walter mused, I'd know the boy a whole lot better.

Hang on there," the man cautioned, "you're still medium rare. I'm gonna cook you until you're charbroiled.

The young man gave Cloyd a poke. "You must crave the taste of trout, the way you hung onto 'em.

I could have found a dry place in the trees, but I was running and fell into a hole." The old man winked at the stranger and chuckled. "From the looks of it, the ground flew up and hit you in the face.

Sometimes," Al said slowly, "sometimes self-reliance is the key to survival, but other times cooperation

Pigs might fly, but they're unlikely birds.

My first job out of college was six weeks of picking fruit alongside a dozen or so men from Mexico. The orchard was in Emmett, Idaho. The men spent almost nothing on themselves. Their paychecks went directly to their families back home.

I do have two wonderful awards from the Western Writers of America, one for 'Beardance' and the other for 'Far North.' The award is called the Spur, and the plaques really do have spurs on them!

My seventeen years of teaching inform my sense of audience in every line I write.

Old Japanese saying, live scorpion in pants makes life interesting.

In a lot of cases, writers discover that the novel needs to begin later in the action than they'd first thought.

Choosing the narrator for a first-person story like 'Downriver' is a crucial decision because the voice has to be one the reader wants to listen to, and the voice has to be a match for the emotion you want the story to carry.

For 'The Big Wander,' I probably had ten different outlines before I made myself start writing. I would sleep on each one, thinking it was wonderful, but I would always awake perceiving some flaw.