Quotes About Author

I saw the business of writing for what it truly was and is to me. It is your penance for not being lucky. It is an attempt to reach others and to make them love you.

But there comes a time when books let you down. Surely that time had not arrived? But in comparison with a living presence there is no contest.

She was right: dignity was important. But so was the impulse to get rid of it, as he knew from his recent awakening.

Usually a feeling of disappointment follows the book, because what I hoped to write is not what I actually accomplished. However, it becomes a motivation to write the next book.

Using Wiradjuri language on the cover of my novel makes a strong statement … regarding the reclamation and maintenance of the traditional language of my family.

After all, there is nothing that gives a girl more of a thrill than brains in a gentleman.

I'm not really big on slapstick humor. I like gentle humor.

Mrs. Knowles looked off in the distance, which wasn't all that far in a trailer, and tapped her worn fingers on the arm of the recliner.

had to be helped to my bed when he came home looking for all the world like an aging Britney Spears, only better dressed

I just have no patience with people who ignore the Do Not Call list, so I also have no qualms about hanging up on them.

Minimalism is a term that all of us who share so little in common and who are lumped together as minimalists are not terribly happy with.

I only have a certain bag of tricks. And that's why little things, like punctuation, make such a big difference. The dash I've always relied on hugely. I know I use it even in borderline cases, where technically it isn't correct. But it moves me through the initial draft of the text, and I let a lot of my dashes stay.

Clichés so often befall vain people.

Don't talk to me. I'm tired and grumpy and I'll probably make fun of you.

Better not think about Mrs Barum either; it was really such a strain going on being fair.

Since I enjoy intelligent conversation, I generally want an IQ that's larger than the bra size." "So, if I'm a drooling idiot, you'll leave me alone?

oatcake and handed it to her. 'Does Perez ever talk

Of course. I should have guessed. That jacket comes straight from central casting.

She forwarded it to Vera

He wasn't given to strange thoughts, but it occurred to him suddenly that Mardle was toxic. There was something unhealthy in the air.

was she keen to let slip that she'd been back to visit Joanna the night before. He began with a recap.

I found her a little irritating – she was one of those rather self-righteous women with a heightened belief in their own moral superiority

Vera had banned Sorry for your loss. 'We're not characters from an American cop show,' she'd yelled at

But Patty thought Vera couldn't really know, because she couldn't imagine the big woman giving up her independence for anyone. And anyway she was strong, not needy like Patty. Not desperate to be loved back.