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The most important lesson I have learned from spending years talking to law enforcement officers is that the vast majority of them really want to do a good job. They have a physical need to do a good job. And yet, we don't give them the resources that would help them.
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It sounds pretentious to say I 'divide' my time, but when I am home, that usually means my house in Atlanta or my cabin in the North Georgia Mountains. The latter is where I do the majority of my writing.
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I never felt isolated; I just liked being alone. I think that some people are good at being alone, and some people aren't, and as a child, I really liked it.
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I always try to block out an hour or so a day to read. Being a writer is a job, and reading helps train my brain in the right direction.
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I think being a woman and writing frankly about violence has gotten me some attention, and as someone who wants people to read my books, I can't complain about that attention, but it does puzzle me that this is something reviewers focus on.
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Visual storytelling is at once immediate and subversive.
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Everybody had something horrible happen to them at one time or another in their life.
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If you're going to write thrillers, you have to make a decision if you are going to be realistic or go off and over.
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As a Southerner, I love obstacles for my characters.
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I can clearly trace my passion for reading back to the Jonesboro, Georgia, library, where for the first time in my life I had access to what seemed like an unlimited supply of books. This was where I discovered 'Encyclopedia Brown' and 'Nancy Drew,' 'Gone With the Wind' and 'Rebecca.' This was where I became inspired to be a writer.
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Women know how to scare other women.
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I've never purposefully based a character on any one person I know, but I'm certain there are amalgamations that exist.
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I grew up reading thrillers. Honestly, I was always drawn to the very detailed ones like Patricia Cornwell. I love details.
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Men are more particular, and they're not going to grab something with a bodice-ripper cover on it.
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Being a Southerner, I'm interested in sex, violence, religion and all the things that make life interesting.
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I've always been drawn to historical fiction.
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What I know is the characters in a Southern town. I know the cadence of the language and the voice of Atlanta because I've lived here for so long. And I know the neighborhoods, and I hopefully know the people, and I feel a connection to them. And I also feel like I'm honoring them when I talk about them.
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I grew up in a small town in Georgia where nothing bad happened - it was like Mayberry.
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I've always been drawn to dark stories. I enjoy reading Flannery O'Connor, Patricia Highsmith, and Margaret Mitchell.
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The book that first made me want to be a writer is Flannery O'Connor's short story collection 'A Good Man Is Hard To Find.'
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People forget that writers start off being readers. We all love it when we find a terrific read, and we want to let people know about it.
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I think a lot of people are curious about what makes people do what they do, and I guess my curiosity isn't hidden in any way.
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Random House is definitely invested in keeping libraries healthy.
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If there is still an American dream, reading is one of the bootstraps by which we can all pull ourselves up.