Thomas Perry Quotes

• I had been writing fiction since I was in eighth grade, because I loved it.

  Thomas Perry

  Writing, Fiction, Grades

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• Much of what we do in life has a huge component of luck.

  Thomas Perry

  Good Luck, Luck, Components

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• Reading a novel in which all characters illustrate patience, hard work, chastity, and delayed gratification could be a pretty dull experience.

  Thomas Perry

  Patience, Reading, Hard Work

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• Being comfortable isn't the way to learn to expand your abilities.

  Thomas Perry

  Way, Ability, Comfortable

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• I don't think the problem is that people don't read enough mystery books, but that people don't read.

  Thomas Perry

  Book, Thinking, People

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• I don't have dry seasons, because I don't allow them.

  Thomas Perry

  Dry, Seasons

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• I do have to earn a living, so I'm conscious of probable reactions from readers, but the most important one is still the awareness that if I'm not enjoying a story, the reader won't either.

  Thomas Perry

  Important, Stories, Awareness

  Interview with Ann Bruns, www.bookreporter.com. January 17, 2003.

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• I do want to write about Jane Whitefield again, but only when I have a good enough idea - something I've figured out about her that's news and that's worth a reader's time.

  Thomas Perry

  Writing, Ideas, News

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• I do try not to spend much time reading in the suspense genre.

  Thomas Perry

  Book, Reading, Trying

  Interview with Ann Bruns, www.bookreporter.com. January 17, 2003.

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• Contrary to what many writers imply about the process, nobody forces a writer to sell his work to the film industry.

  Thomas Perry

  Bedtime, Film, Process

  Interview with Ann Bruns, www.bookreporter.com. January 17, 2003.

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• There is no place so benighted and godforsaken that some moron won't go there on vacation. People could be living in an open sewer and swallowing dirt to stop the hunger, and there'd be a couple from Larchmont wearing comfortable shoes there to take pictures of them.

  Thomas Perry

  Couple, Vacation, Shoes

  Thomas Perry (1989). “Island”, Avon Books

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• There are days when I intentionally don't write. For instance, I never write when I'm traveling, because travel is a situation where I can learn more by looking and listening than by working.

  Thomas Perry

  Travel, Writing, Listening

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• All writers are mimics, and I'm not interested in picking up somebody else's style or voice.

  Thomas Perry

  Voice, Style, Not Interested

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• Tod Goldberg has long been one of the most interesting writers around, and Gangsterland is his biggest and best book so far.

  Thomas Perry

  Book, Long, Interesting

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• Yes, in my books I do edit myself to keep from becoming the Village Explainer.

  Thomas Perry

  Book, Village, Becoming

  Interview with Ann Bruns, www.bookreporter.com. January 17, 2003.

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• When I write a book, I'm making it the best book I can.

  Thomas Perry

  Book, Writing, I Can

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• What I look for in any character, good or bad, is whether I can hear him speak. If I can imagine him that clearly, then I can write about him.

  Thomas Perry

  Writing, Character, Looks

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• The characters you refer to as predatory and unsavory are useful. They're the ones who make a novel into a thriller. They're active, and most of the common virtues, the signs of a good person, are not.

  Thomas Perry

  Writing, Character, Common

  Interview with Ann Bruns, www.bookreporter.com. January 17, 2003.

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• Once you have invented a character with three dimensions and a voice, you begin to realize that some of the things you'd like him to do to further your plot are things that such a person wouldn't, or couldn't, do.

  Thomas Perry

  Character, Voice, Plot

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• It's important, I think, for a writer of fiction to maintain an awareness of the pace and shape of the book as he's writing it. That is, he should be making an object, not chattering.

  Thomas Perry

  Book, Writing, Thinking

  Interview with Ann Bruns, www.bookreporter.com. January 17, 2003.

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• I do like to explore evil characters in my books.

  Thomas Perry

  Book, Character, Evil Characters

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• If I don't have a project going, I sit down and begin to write something - a character sketch, a monologue, a description of some sight, or even just a list of ideas.

  Thomas Perry

  Writing, Character, Sight

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• I held a variety of jobs - most notably ten years working in universities - and kept on writing.

  Thomas Perry

  Jobs, Writing, Years

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• I don't consciously do anything to maintain a unique voice.

  Thomas Perry

  Unique, Unique Voices, Voice

  Interview with Ann Bruns, www.bookreporter.com. January 17, 2003.

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• You have very accurately described the difficulty of presenting my books on film: many of my characters are alone most of the time, and when they do talk, what they say is mostly lies. That can make for a pretty confusing film.

  Thomas Perry

  Lying, Book, Character

  Interview with Ann Bruns, www.bookreporter.com. January 17, 2003.

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