Writer

I hate to badmouth any book or writer, because I know how it feels to be on the other end of that.

As the youngest of three girls, most of my childhood works were revenge fantasies against my older sisters, so of course the sisters in 'Pretty Girls' share some similarities to my own.

It's just my goal to deliver the best story I can, and I want to make sure each book is better than the last, and in order to do that, I have to take chances.

Jack Reacher is one of the sexiest characters in fiction.

If there is still an American dream, reading is one of the bootstraps by which we can all pull ourselves up.

My job isn't to preach to people, it's to entertain them. I like letting the characters speak for themselves.

I always try to block out an hour or so a day to read. Being a writer is a job, and reading helps train my brain in the right direction.

Flannery O'Connor was a revelation for me. When I read her, I was very young, and I didn't understand what she was doing. I didn't see any of the Catholicism or any of the social stuff.

I've never purposefully based a character on any one person I know, but I'm certain there are amalgamations that exist.

Southerners have this love of embellishment. Even when you read a police report, there's some backstory.

I've always been interested in violence, even as a teenager. I loved 'Helter Skelter' and books like that.

Flannery O'Connor was a revelation for me. When I read her, I was very young, and I didn't understand what she was doing. I didn't see the - any of the Catholicism or any of the social stuff.

I think a lot of guys who are on the Internet a lot, they're kind of anesthetized to some of the violent language and all that because they see it all the time.

I always try to block out an hour or so a day to read. Being a writer is a job, and reading helps train my brain in the right direction.

When I was growing up, my stepmother's sister was the chief detective in one of the adjoining towns, so she piqued my interest in crime.

I grew up in a small town in Georgia where nothing bad happened - it was like Mayberry.

I always say 'thriller;' if they see you're a woman - and you're a blond woman - people assume you're writing about cats and romances where somebody has died.

Readers are very, very savvy, and I don't want to insult them by making them think I'm too lazy to get it right.

I have a lot of men who will say to me, 'I don't read books by women, but I like you.'

Growing up in Georgia in the southeastern United States, I was always reading and always kept to myself. I never felt isolated, though; I just liked being alone.