LAURELL K. HAMILTON

I love animals, always have, and it seemed natural to help the ASPCA. Animals have no voice of their own, so we have to be that voice.

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

I think like a detective.

Everyone spends their lives trying to balance their world between good and evil.

I went to Marion College for writing and I was kicked out of the writing school. I was asked to leave the writing program because I was corrupting the other students.

My writing style is very sensual, as in sensory detail.

You either mellow at 30, or your head explodes - take your choice.

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.

I'm not terribly fond of soapboxes.

The fey in this country keep to themselves, and are a separate nation, much like the American Indians, but with even more autonomy.

When sex is necessary for the plot of a book, or a character development, then I don't shy away from it. Why should I?

I always treated writing as a profession, never as a hobby. If you don't believe in yourself, no one else will.

If I'd been easily discouraged, I could have been a one-hit wonder.

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.

If you're open to it, New Orleans will teach you about yourself, but if you want to hide from who you really are, the city will help you do that, too.

I feel that if you are blessed, or lucky enough, to be doing well, you should help others.

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

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

Some people just don't seem to understand the concept of fiction. It is fiction; it ain't true, folks.

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

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.

Here's the secret to finishing that first book. Don't rewrite as you go.

I try not to worry about rewriting books that worked well the first time. I'm too busy writing new books to worry about things that are already in print.

Perfection is an unattainable goal. It isn't going to be perfect. Just get words down on paper, and when you stumble to what you think is the end of the book, you will have hundreds of pages of words that came out of your head. It may not be perfect, but it looks like a book.

I'm more influenced by my own interests than anyone else's. Writers have to entertain themselves, or they can't entertain anyone else.