I'm Thinking Of Taking Up

The Muse Is Not An Angelic Voice That Sits On Your Shoulder And Sings Sweetly. The Muse Is The Most Annoying Whine. The Muse Isn't Hard To Find, Just Hard To Like - She Follows You Everywhere, Tapping You On The Shoulder, Demanding That You Stop Doing Whatever Else You Might Be Doing And Pay Attention To Her.

The Actual Writing Time Is A Lot Shorter Than The Thinking Time. I Don't Do Too Many Notes. I Keep It Mostly In My Head. I Usually Start Writing A New Book Around January, And It's Due October 1.

You Don't Worry About Happiness And Fulfilment When You're Starving.

The Readers Are The Ones Who Let Us Live Our Dreams. I Try To Write Books Which Are Really Compelling - That You'd Take On Vacation And Rather Than Going Out, You'd Read In Your Hotel Room Because You Had To Find Out What Happened. Hopefully That's What Readers Are Responding To.

I Don't Find Any Real Rivalries With Crime And Thriller Writers Anyway. That Might Sound A Little Pollyanna, But For The Most Part The Writers I Compete With, If You Want To Use That Word, It's A Pretty Friendly Rivalry. I Think We All Realise That The Boat Rises And Sinks Together.