Megan Abbott Quotes

My father always read obituaries to me out loud, not because he was maudlin or morbid, but because they were mini biographies.

I do read a poem almost every morning. Unless I'm really, really late, I have to get my poem in.

The obituaries shot up to the top of my list when I discovered Robert McG. Thomas, the 'Times' obit writer who redesigned its traditional form and added a measure of stylistic elegance.

I love the genre of early Hollywood. It gives you everything.

It wasn't until I was 23 and got married to a guy who was really bookish that I got completely hooked on reading and writing again. He had so many paperbacks, I didn't have to buy a book for four and a half years.

Read as much as possible, especially the work of writers who most deeply affect you. Make those writers your family. Never wait for inspiration to strike before getting to work; be disciplined and form the habit of writing every day.

You can't slot a time and a space and think 'ok now it's time to sit and compose.' It just doesn't work like that for me.

Each weekday morning, I'm up - reading, reading, reading.

The last book I read before I wrote my first book - 'Ghosts of Manhattan' - was 'The Gold Coast' by DeMille. I loved it, and it gave me a lot of energy to start into my own.

The golden age of Hollywood was the conceit of the movie and the style of the movie.

Reading feeds writing: it presents you with new ideas to engage with.

The first thing I do in the morning is have an espresso - straight up - and read the papers. I like 'The Independent,' 'The Times,' and the 'Financial Times.'

Some books inspire one to read, and some inspire one to write; for selfish reasons, I'm always looking for the latter.

When I write a novel I start each morning by reading for 20 minutes.

Puce Women was my love affair with Hollywood... with all the great goddesses of the silent screen. They were to be filmed in their homes; I was, in effect, filming ghosts.

When I first wanted to be a writer, I learned to write prose by reading poetry.

The first movie I can remember ever seeing was Hard Times with Charles Bronson and James Coburn. My dad also introduced me to the likes of Jimmy Cagney... John Garfield... Robert Ryan... Steve McQueen... James Caan... Those are my fondest memories.

I'm a bit like a sponge. When I'm not writing I absorb life like water. When I write I squeeze the sponge a little - and out comes, not water but ink.

I am an old consumer of papers. I cannot avoid reading my newspapers every morning.

I get up at seven for the make-up, Rita Hayworth at six, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis at five. I don’t want to know the time when I’ll have to come to the studio even earlier.

Perhaps it's only when people are dead that we can safely show how much we cared about them. We know that it's too late then for them to do anything about it.

I know that when I think of myself as being utterly worn out, when I think that somehow I have nothing more to write, then something is happening within me. And, in due course, it bubbles up; it comes to the surface, and then I do my best to listen. But there's nothing mystical about all this. I suppose all writers do the same.

I still get my news from the newspaper in the morning. I just have an affection for paper, and that's no secret, I guess.

Read as much as you can. Write only when you feel the inner need to do so. And don’t ever rush into print.

I think that good writing is based on good reading. Maybe it's not about writing today, maybe it's about reading today. Maybe it's about finding the sort of book you would never read.