Words matter. These are the best Evan Hunter Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
I was a blond-haired kid with blue eyes, growing up in an Italian ghetto. I had a very high IQ. In elementary school, I skipped ahead twice. I was 10 years old when everyone else was 12.
I enjoy what I do every minute of the day, even when the going gets tough. When I first began writing, I used to work at a desk in the bedroom, of a small development house. My three sons all under the age of 3 would come running in and out of the room every minute.
I would certainly never suggest that any lesbian should be ashamed of her sexual preference.
I wanted to be an artist. I was studying art. I wanted to be a great painter. When I went into the Navy, there wasn’t much to draw at sea. So I began writing, and I began reading a lot.
I’ve never been a cop nor hope to be a cop, thanks.
It’s hard to write an Evan Hunter novel because I really am starting from scratch. I’m assuming a new voice each time. The McBain voice is set.
I have a book coming out in September, for example, where the plot concerns counterfeiting, and I had to do a lot of research on that. Or on any legal matters, for example, I have to do a lot of research online.
I try to keep all my novels in print. Sometimes publishers don’t agree with me as to their worth.
I think of myself as a softy. I think the 87th Precinct novels are very sentimental, and the cops are idealistic guys.
I never take ideas from the headlines. I feel that if a story is good enough, a real story that is, then it’s already been covered by the media, and if it’s not good enough, why would I want to bother with it?
Depending on what I’m working on, I come to the writing desk with entirely different mindsets. When I change form one to the other, it’s as if another writer is on the scene.
Sometimes I had three or four stories in a single magazine without the editor knowing they were all by me.
Changing writing styles is like an actor taking on a different part.
I began using pseudonyms early in my career, when I was being paid a quarter a cent a word for my work, and when I had to write a lot to earn a living. Sometimes I had three or four stories in a single magazine without the editor knowing they were all by me.
I know that all cops are not sterling characters. But you have to have someone to root for. I balance it with rotten cops who will take a bribe, who will beat somebody up.
You just touch on things. You don’t go round the room describing the furniture.
When I started writing, most of the police department in New York City, especially above the rank of detective, were Irish, Irish-American. I thought it would be more interesting… to use the actual ethnic background in New York City at the time.
Readers are what it’s all about, aren’t they? If not, why am I writing?
