Sandra Brown
'Rainwater' was particularly special because it was a complete departure from the suspense novels. It's set in the Great Depression and based on an incident that occurred when my dad was a boy.
It was kind of a hard lesson when I figured out that not everybody is going to be kind, be sweet. So I've learned that I am never going to make everybody happy. There's always going to be someone who can't stand the way I write, and I can't take that personally.
I don't know exactly where the ideas come from. One day, a sentence just popped into my head - 'There was going to be trouble, and, hell, he just wasn't in the mood for it' - and I knew I had a novel.
I know I'm not creating transcendent works that will someday be taught in college. All I do is entertain. I try to entertain others by sending them into another world for a few hours. When I see my books read on the beach, the pages dabbed with suntan lotion, then I feel as if I've done my job.
I'm no cook, but I love to eat. Usually, food tastes best when there isn't a recipe, just a cook who knows what foods and seasonings go well together.
Rarely does a complete idea come to me. I basically start with just a small scene or a snatch of dialogue and force myself to write and to keep writing. Sometimes it becomes a book.
I 'climbed' Sandia Peak outside Albuquerque. Which is really piddling as far as mountains go. It's a mere 9,000 feet and some change, and what I went up was a path on one of the gentler slopes. It's about seven miles to the summit, and I walked it with my husband, son, and brother-in-law. For me that was a tremendous accomplishment.
I love being the bad guy, simply because I was always so responsible, so predictable growing up.
I made straight A's and never got into any trouble, and I still impose those standards on myself. So writing is my chance to escape and become the sleaziest, scummiest role.
I think of my books now as suspense novels, usually with a love story incorporated. They're absolutely a lot harder to write than romances. They take more plotting and real character development.
I came to write after several mini careers. I did live theatre, managed a cosmetics store and was a local television personality.
I grew up loving books and stories. Reading became my favourite pastime, and you have to be a reader before you can be a writer.
My mother was a big reader, and my father was an editorial writer for a newspaper.
Life throws surprises, sorrows, sadness, and hardship, and I think that writing has actually grounded me. It kept me grounded when everything else was falling apart.
There are gray areas in everything.
When I set out to write, I see it very visually. I almost feel like a reporter. I'm relating what I'm seeing and hearing, so it's kind of watching a play for me.
Writing 'Rainwater' was a refreshing change of pace... a change of everything, in fact.
Typically, I have a fairly good grip on the plot of a suspense novel before I set about writing it. I must know beforehand how the mystery ultimately will be solved.
For each book, there's a back story of where the idea came from. Sometimes it's derived from a current event or topic of discussion, such as 'Deadline.'
Before becoming a writer, I worked in the media, for the ABC affiliate in Dallas.
'Slow Heat in Heaven' was my 'breakout' or 'crossover' book, and I loved the freedom I felt writing it.
Yes, I love my homes, I love to travel, I love my family, and I love doting on my new grandchildren. But you can only do so much of that. I don't go to lunch with friends. I don't join clubs. I don't have any big hobbies. I work. I come up with stories. I can't even imagine a life where I'm not sitting around, worried about my next book.
I have always found writing very difficult.
I love writing villains because I was the big sister of five girls, so I had heavy responsibility growing up. I had to be 'the good girl.'
I always try to incorporate something in every book that I've never used before. Hopefully, spontaneity will keep readers reading.
Once I started to write, it was like all the lights came on. I was always making up stories in my head. I was a daydreamer. I didn't start as a child, but once I started, I couldn't stop. It was compulsive.
My first computer was an IBM Display Writer. With all its components, it was roughly the size of a bass fishing boat.
In my opinion, Armani, better than any other designer, does great things for the female form. And a pair of Levis does great things for the male physique. Not that I look.
No self-respecting Southerner will eat something baked, broiled, grilled, stewed, poached, sauteed, or flambeed when it can be deep fried.
Be prepared to work hard to be a writer.Collection: Hard Work
It takes far less courage to cling to the past than it does to face the future".Collection: Past
Even knowing the ending was sad, I wouldn't have deprived myself the beauty of the story.Collection: Life
If you loved people, you might hurt them, dissapoint them, anger them, but you never, ever, dishonored them.Collection: Hurt
Don't ever be afraid to live. Because though dying is easy when compared to livingCollection: Dying
I have no personal knowledge of, or experience with, paramilitary hate groups, or heart transplantation, or escapees from maximum security prisons, or what it's like to be profoundly deaf. But I've written about all these topics, and the books became bestsellers. I figure that if something interests me, there's a reasonably good chance that it's going to interest the reader, too. As I approach my keyboard each day, I remind myself to have a good time - as good a time as one can have doing the hardest work there is.Collection: Hate
In order to win everything, a woman must know to lose.Collection: Winning
And then he pressed into her. First his thighs, then his middle, his chest, and finally his mouth. She made a whimpering sound, but its definition was unclear even to her, until she realized that her arms had gone around him instinctually, and that she was clutching his back, his shoulders, her hands restless and greedy for the feel of him. He kissed her openmouthed, using his tongue, and when she kissed back, she felt the hum that vibrated deep inside his chest. It was the kind of hungry sound she hadn’t heard in a long time. Masculine and carnal, it thrilled and aroused her.Collection: Hands
i'm going to marry you. i thought you'd like to know in case you wanted to buy a dress or something.Collection: Dresses
I try to weave a secret into each plot. It's the thread that holds the rest of the story fabric together. In fact, it's the reason for the story. I hint at the secret early on. Immediately I want the reader to get the feeling that something here isn't quite right. It helps maintain the suspense if a puzzling element is introduced in the first few pages of the book, but the answer isn't revealed until the final ones. Hopefully, readers want to know what the heck is really going on, and it's the desire to find out that keeps them turning pages.Collection: Book
Should men and women be equal in all things? Absolutely. But I'm old-fashioned in that I like the differences between the sexes. My male characters are neither Neanderthals nor Prince Charmings. They're flawed.Collection: Sex
What do you want? What are you willing to give up to get it? Writing requires you make sacrifices. Be prepared to work hard to be a writer.Collection: Giving Up
People adjust their behavior to fit the society they live in. They integrate because they have to. But what they are on the inside doesn't change.Collection: People
You can only write by putting words on a paper one at a time.Collection: Writing
He won't hurt me. I have a secret weapon.Collection: Hurt
Ah, but being in love made you mean and crazy. Love made you act like a fool even when you knew you were acting like a fool and couldn't help yourself from acting like a fool.Collection: Crazy
I don't panic unless I have to. Wastes energy.Collection: Attitude
For each book, there's a back story of where the idea came from. Sometimes it's derived from a current event or topic of discussion. Often it begins with a character. And often, I have NO idea what sparked the idea. It's just there.Collection: Book
Life was precious. Life was fragile. Here one moment, gone the next. Every second should be milked for all it's worth because you never know when the bottom was going to drop out.Collection: Gone
I'm sure you could have. Fending off unwanted male attention is a skill every attractive woman must acquire. But you're also a lady who was reluctant to cause a scene.. (Hammond Cross)Collection: Skills
Moving between her thighs, he stretched out above her, then thrust into her. Once. Because, as he did everything, he acted without hesitation or apology to claim her entirely. Her eyes went wide and her breath caught. Holding her gaze, he pressed himself deeper, barely easing back before pressing deep again.Collection: Moving