Sue Grafton Quotes
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People talk about dysfunctional families; I've never seen any other kind.
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I made the rules I figured I could be the one to break them. I thought I would write about xenophobia, a hatred of foreigners. After I stated writing the story there was not a foreigner to be had. I did not want to just stick one in there so I could get a title out of it since it seemed like cheating. I never figured out how I could get out of this dilemma so I just called it X and weaved X traits into the story.
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There are laws for everything except the harm families do.
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My primary lesson, however, was that I'm a solo writer, happiest when I'm making all the executive decisions. I've always been willing to rise or fall on my own merits.
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When all else fails, cleaning house is the perfect antidote to most of life's ills.
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Who knows what part we play in other people's dreams?
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If you're unhappy, change something.
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Sometimes being fooled by love is worth the price. At least you know you're alive and capable of feeling, even if all you end up with is chest pain.
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Beware the dark pool at the bottom of our hearts. In its icy, black depths dwell strange and twisted creatures it is best not to disturb.
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Ghosts don't haunt us. That's not how it works. They're present among us because we won't let go of them." "I don't believe in ghosts," I said, faintly. "Some people can't see the color red. That doesn't mean it isn't there," she replied.
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Lucky is the spouse who dies first, who never has to know what survivors endure.
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To many women mistake a man's hostility for wit and his silence for depth.
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Smile. It gives your face something to do.
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Society values cooperation over independence, obedience over individuality, and niceness above all else.
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People in California seem to age at a different rate than the rest of the country. Maybe it's the passion for diet and exercise, maybe the popularity of cosmetic surgery. Or maybe we're afflicted with such a horror of aging that we've halted the process psychically.
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Personally, I don't endorse the notion of mortality. It's fine for other folk, but I disapprove of the concept for me and my loved ones.
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The Jungian therapist taught me the difference between the ego and the shadow. I realized I'd been so busy being a good girl that I'd completely detached from my shadow. It's something we all have, and it's where all the creative juices are.
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There's a certain class of people who will do you in and then remain completely mystified by the depth of your pain.
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There's really no such thing as an 'ex-cop' or a cop who's 'off-duty' or 'retired.' Once trained, once indoctrinated, a cop is always alert, assessing reality in terms of its potential for illegal acts.
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There's nothing quite as irksome as someone else's mess.
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There is, apparently, some law of nature decreeing that all home construction must double in its projected cost and take four times longer than originally anticipated.
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A is for Alibi, my first book, was published in 1982. As it happened the next couple of books took place in June and August of that year. Without meaning to I painted myself into a corner. The other issue was the aging process. I did not want my main character to age one year for every book so I slowed the whole process down. This way I could get through all 26 letters of the alphabet without making her 109 years old in 2015. I might end the series in either 1990 or on New Years Eve 1989.
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I was an English major in college with minors in Fine Arts and Humanities.
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Insecure people have a special sensitivity for anything that finally confirms their own low opinion of themselves.