Quotes from Diane Mott Davidson

After I outlined 'Catering to Nobody,' I went and worked for a caterer. And the other thing I had to do was to talk to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department about how they investigated a crime.

I wanted to be a literary writer, so I wrote story after story and sent them to 'The New Yorker.'

In a mystery, the sleuth must be believably involved and emotionally invested in solving the crime.

When I started to write culinary mysteries, I did it because nobody was doing it anymore.

I'm always astonished to see how badly people can behave when they think no one is noticing.

The thing is, if you make best-sellerdom your goal, you're going to be in trouble. It's a very nice thing to have happen, but if one makes that a goal like, say, a literary writer has the goal of getting the Pulitzer Prize, that's so unpredictable.

I told the caterer I'd work for nothing if he'd teach me about catering. I lasted one week full-time. It was exhausting.

Writing is work and cooking is relaxing.

One thing that improved my cooking skills was being a poor student in California... If you don't have much money, you have to learn to cook.

I'm sorry for when you asked me about Soviet foreign policy I said , Who gives a $@!&?