Thomas Perry Quotes
"Yes, in my books I do edit myself to keep from becoming the Village Explainer."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Books)
"When I write a book, I'm making it the best book I can."
- Thomas Perry
"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
(Related: Character)
"But at the same time, the commonplace statement about them is true: every character is the hero of his own story. Each has a justification for his actions that is convincing to him. It's fun to give these people voices."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Time, People, Character, Actions, Fun, Justification)
"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
(Related: Travel, Listening, Traveling)
"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
"Reading a novel in which all characters illustrate patience, hard work, chastity, and delayed gratification could be a pretty dull experience."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Experience, Work, Chastity, Hard work, Patience, Pretty, Reading)
"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
(Related: Character, Voice)
"Much of what we do in life has a huge component of luck."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Life, Luck)
"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
(Related: Awareness, Fiction, Writer, Writing)
"It was a lot of fun, and writing a series is comfortable. It's almost like having a secure job."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Fun, Job, Writing)
"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
(Related: Time, Books, Difficulty, Film, Lies, Pretty, Talk)
"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
(Related: Ideas, Character, Project, Sight)
"I think we did a great job of putting together a program that would have made good e-books available had people been buying e-books in any real numbers."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: People, Buying, Job, Numbers)
"I held a variety of jobs - most notably ten years working in universities - and kept on writing."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Jobs, Variety, Writing, Years)
"I had been writing fiction since I was in eighth grade, because I loved it."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Fiction, Writing)
"I don't think the problem is that people don't read enough mystery books, but that people don't read."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: People, Books, Mystery)
"I don't consciously do anything to maintain a unique voice."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Voice)
"I do try not to spend much time reading in the suspense genre."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Time, Reading, Suspense)
"I do like to explore evil characters in my books."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Books, Evil)
"I do hope to bring Jane Whitefield back before too long."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Hope)
"Contrary to what many writers imply about the process, nobody forces a writer to sell his work to the film industry."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Work, Film, Writer, Writers)
"Being comfortable isn't the way to learn to expand your abilities."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Being)
"All writers are mimics, and I'm not interested in picking up somebody else's style or voice."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Style, Voice, Writers)
"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
(Related: Time, Idea, News, Want, Worth)
"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
(Related: Awareness, Living)
"I don't have dry seasons, because I don't allow them."
- Thomas Perry
(Related: Seasons)