Quotes By Laurell K. Hamilton

Never argue with your characters; they know themselves better than you do.

Most of the monsters... are based on some sort of mythology. Every culture and even some geographical areas have monsters and mythology that is their own.

I've lost track of the number of people who want to be writers but never actually write anything. Talking about writing, dreaming about writing, can be very fun, but it won't get a book written. You've got to write.

If people would write exactly what I wanted to read I wouldn't feel so compelled to write myself.

What we prefer to read is sort of like sexual preference, you like what you like. Most of the time you have no clue why.

Two things I do well in books are sex and violence, but I don't want gratuitous sex or violence. The sex and violence are only as graphic as need be. And never included unless it furthers the plot or character development.

I guess, what I'm saying is that when I've been this surprised by my own characters and world, all bets are off.

What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but what happens in New Orleans, goes home with you.

I want a kiss to be so believable it gives the reader shivers.

I've been writing stories since I was 12. 'Writer's Digest' was one of my writing teachers, actually.

You'd think a sociopath assassin wouldn't have a fan following but he does.

I started off like everyone else does, slogging but having a compulsion to put words on paper. I didn't write or read horror or fantasy, other than children's fantasy, until I was in my teens.

I like conventions. I like meeting and greeting. I'm perched on that edge where I'm getting more attention than I quite know what to do with, though.

For me the Anita series is built like a mystery series, which means that as much as possible each book stands alone, so you have a mystery to solve from the beginning to the end of the book.

Nothing wrong with making money or doing what you need to do to sell, but I think it shows when you're writing something to pay the bills and when you're writing something because it's really your version of the world.