 All characters come from people I know, but after the initial inspiration, I tend to modify the characters so they fit with the story. |
| I think that men know how to romance a woman and most do it well, at least for a time, otherwise women wouldn't marry them. The problem is that most of them begin to rest on their laurels. |
| I suppose I'm most influenced by any good, commercial writer. I learn from everyone. |
| I think that enduring, committed love between a married couple, along with raising children, is the most noble act anyone can aspire to. It is not written about very much. |
| I'm writing a new love story, set in eastern North Carolina. Surprise, surprise, huh? |
| A typical agent in New York gets 400 query letters a month. Of those, they might ask to read 3-4 manuscripts, and of those, they might ask to represent 1. |
| The first thing I did when I sold my book was buy a new wedding ring for my wife and asked her to marry me all over again. |
| My wife, my family, my friends - they've all taught me things about love and what that emotion really means. In a nutshell, loving someone is about giving, not receiving. |
| Loving once and only once is possible - anything is possible. |
| There's always pressure, a great deal of pressure, when writing, since my first books were so successful. |
| I do not use profanity in my novels. My characters all go to church. |
| Publishing is a business. Writing may be art, but publishing, when all is said and done, comes down to dollars. |
| I'll admit that it's not easy to get an agent, but becoming successful in anything requires perseverance. |
| Because publishing is becoming more business-oriented each day with more examination of the bottom line, it's harder to break out than ever. |
| Writing the last page of the first draft is the most enjoyable moment in writing. It's one of the most enjoyable moments in life, period. |
| None of my characters are rich or famous, and the situations they find themselves in could happen to anyone. |
| I have certain moral parameters that I do not cross in writing; I don't write about adultery or kids having premarital sex. |
| Above all, a query letter is a sales pitch and it is the single most important page an unpublished writer will ever write. It's the first impression and will either open the door or close it. It's that important, so don't mess it up. Mine took 17 drafts and two weeks to write. |
| Rekindled love is generally short-term. |
| What's the challenge in writing a novel that few people will read? I'm more than happy writing what I do and have no plans to change that. |
