“Every decade of my life I attempted to write a novel. But I had nothing to say. I was far too self-absorbed, and now I realize I was writing for others, so that they'd applaud me, see my genius, tell me how wonderful I am, or be jealous of my success.” WritingSelfRealizingNovelWonderfulGeniusDecadesJealousSelf AbsorbedBeing Jealous Author:Louise Penny
“As an editor, I read Charlotte Rogan's amazing debut novel, 'The Lifeboat,' when it was still in manuscript. I read it in one night, and I really wanted my company to publish it, but we lost it to another house. It's such a wonderful combination of beautiful writing and suspenseful storytelling.” WritingStillsWantedBeautifulNightHouseLostCompanyNovelWonderfulStorytellingCombinationEditorsPublishOne NightManuscriptsDebutBeautiful WritingCharlotteLifeboats Author:Karen Thompson Walker
“In How to Be an American Housewife Margaret Dilloway creates an irresistible heroine. Shoko is stubborn, contrary, proud, a wonderful housewife and full of deeply conflicted feelings. I wanted to shake her, even as I was cheering her on, and this cunningly structured novel allowed me to do both. It also took me on two intricate journeys, from post-war Japan and the shadow of Nagasaki to contemporary California, and from motherhood to daughterhood and back again. A profound and suspenseful debut.” TwoWarFeelingsWantedNovelWonderfulJourneyProudShadowProfoundMotherhoodContraryContemporaryPostsCaliforniaShakesJapanCheerStubbornIrresistibleHousewifeBack AgainHeroinesIntricateDebutPost War Author:Margot Livesey
“A vivid portrait of a teenage girl and her family in disarray. Meredith is a wonderful narrator, witty, feisty, full of yearning, and the story she tells is as complicated as life itself. This is a richly satisfying novel.” StoriesGirlNovelWonderfulWittyComplicatedSatisfyingYearningPortraitsTeenageVividNarratorsTeenage GirlFeistyDisarray Author:Margot Livesey
“Some of my youthful readers are developing wonderful imaginations. This pleases me. When I was young I longed to write a great novel that should win me fame. Now that I am getting old my first book is written to amuse children. For aside from my evident inability to do anything "great," I have learned to regard fame as a will-o-the-wisp which, when caught, is not worth the possession; but to please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own reward.” ShouldWritingFirstsHeartChildrenBookYoungWinningImaginationNovelWonderfulWrittenSweetReaderPleaseFameRegardRewardsCaughtPossessionLovelyDevelopingI Have LearnedEvidentInabilityGetting OldPlease MeLovely ThingsWispsGreat Novels Author:L. Frank Baum
“I have rarely read a more wonderful book than To Win Her Favor by Tamera Alexander. Rich with historical detail and fully developed characters, this novel held me spellbound until the last page. If you read one historical novel this year, make it To Win Her Favor. It will linger with you long after the last page.” IfsYearsLongBookCharacterLastsWinningNovelRichWonderfulPagesHistoricalDetailsFavorsHistorical Novels Author:Colleen Coble
“The only justification for writing a novel is that it should be wonderful. Adequate is inadequate.” ShouldWritingNovelWonderfulJustificationAdequateInadequate Author:Janet Burroway
“Romance novels are my favorite books to read. I write young adult romances, and am so happy to be promoting this wonderful genre.” WritingBookRomanceYoungNovelWonderfulAdultsMy FavoriteYoung AdultGenrePromotingRomance NovelFavorite Book Author:Simone Elkeles
“This Is Not a Novel memorializes the treasures and detritus of one man's singularly cultured mind. (...) If you don't know Writer's work at all, try This Is Not a Novel. There may be some doubt about exactly what kind of book it is, but not that it's altogether wonderful.” IfsKnowsMenTryingMindKindMayBookNovelDoubtWonderfulTreasureOne Man Author:Michael Dirda
“I've just finished a series of Olivia Manning novels. She's best known for two trilogies: Balkan Trilogy and Levant Trilogy. The six novels are continuous and contain the same set of characters. They are based on Manning's experiences in Eastern Europe and Egypt during the Second World War. Each novel is a wonderful picture of the peculiar British expatriate culture and what was happening during the war. She's one of those brilliant women who write very well about domestic relationships. All the books are slim, and it's easy to gallop through them.” WorldWritingWellsTwoBookWarCharacterCultureEasyKnownNovelWonderfulSixHappeningsEuropeSeriesBritishFinishedBrilliantWar Of The WorldsPeculiarEgyptEasternSecond World WarSlimEastern EuropeTrilogiesBalkansOliviaExpatriates Author:Sarah Waters
“The Chicago Way is a wonderful first novel. Michael Harvey has studied the masters and put his own unique touch on the crime novel. This book harkens the arrival of a major new voice.” WayFirstsBookVoiceNovelWonderfulCrimeMastersMajorsUniqueChicagoArrivalsHarveyCrime Novels Author:Michael Connelly
“My writerly aspirations are pretty simple: to provide as many readers as possible with the same sort of wonderful immersion that I myself get from fantasy novels - and to make enough money to help feed my kids while doing so.” EnoughHelpingKidsSimpleFantasyNovelWonderfulReaderAspirationImmersionFantasy Novels Author:Saladin Ahmed
“Wonderful thing about novels is that sometimes we read a novel and we know the person in the novel more than we know people in our own lives.” PeopleKnowsPersonsSometimesNovelWonderfulWonderful Things Author:Edwidge Danticat
“I'm interested in such things as the difference between how we perceive the world and what the world turns out to be. The difference is between the stories we tell others and the stories we tell ourselves. There is a wonderful Russian saying, which I use as the epigraph of one of my novels, which goes, He lies like an eyewitness. Which is very sly, clever and true.” WorldStoriesUseLyingTurnsDifferencesNovelWonderfulCleverPerceiveSlyEyewitnessesEpigraphs Author:Julian Barnes
“The older books were quite light-hearted. But I think most of my novels do end on a deep note of pessimism. Shadows seem to be closing in. The final conclusion isn't that life is wonderful and everything is bright and cheery and in the garden.” ThinkingBookEndsLightSeemsLife IsNovelWonderfulShadowGardenNotesFinalsConclusionPessimismClosingHeartedLight HeartedLife Is Wonderful Author:Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“I'm writinng my first full-length novel, which is based on a novella I wrote called "The Mad Scientist's Daughter." I'm having a wonderful time with it, but of course it's presenting challenges as well. Stories always do, no matter what they are.” FirstsWellsMatterStoriesCoursesChallengesNovelWonderfulDaughterScientistNo Matter WhatMadLengthPresentingWonderful TimesMad Scientist Author:Theodora Goss
“Wouldn't that be wonderful if I could do that? And that way, I could walk with the muse, rather than walk without her. The novel would write itself.” IfsWayWritingWalksNovelWonderfulIf I CouldMuse Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim
“I can't imagine otherwise - I guess Virginia Woolf could write wonderful novels where the women never have sex, and her novels work. But for me, I don't think I could write a plot without sex happening somewhere.” ThinkingWritingI CanSexNovelImagineWonderfulHappeningsPlotVirginiaWoolf Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim