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Getting an idea for a book is not the problem, but you need 300 ideas - an idea a page.

Barbara Mertz

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Barbara Mertz
Age: 85 †
Born: 1927
Born: September 29
Died: 2013
Died: August 8
Archaeologist
Author
Egyptologist
Novelist
Writer
Canton
Illinois
Elizabeth Peters
Barbara Michaels
Barbara Louise Mertz
Need
Needs
Page
Pages
Getting
Idea
Problem
Ideas
Book

More quotes by Barbara Mertz

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I can do a book in three months if I spend all day, seven days a week at it and, in fact, I work better that way.
Barbara Mertz
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I would not be at all surprised to find that it was for gold that Cain committed the first murder. (It happened a very long time ago, and Holy Writ, though no doubt divinely inspired, is a trifle careless about details. God is not a historian).
Barbara Mertz
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The opportunity to lecture had restored my good humor.
Barbara Mertz
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I have learned that particularly clever ideas do not always stand up under close scrutiny.
Barbara Mertz
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Emerson,' I said, choosing my words with care, 'it is a sheer drop from the cleft down to the base of the cliff. If you are bent on breaking your arm or your leg or your neck or all three, find a place closer to home so we won't have to carry you such a distance.
Barbara Mertz
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The approval of a cat cannot but flatter the recipient.
Barbara Mertz
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Sometimes the characters develop almost without your knowing it. You find them doing things you hadn't planned on, and then I have to go back to page 42 and fix things. I'm not recommending it as a way to write. It's very sloppy, but it works for me.
Barbara Mertz
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Giving other people advice is one of the most irritating and useless activities known to man.
Barbara Mertz
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kissing someone out of pity is always a mistake.
Barbara Mertz
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Dogs can be made to feel guilty about anything, including the sins of their owners. Cats refuse to take the blame for anything - including their own sins.
Barbara Mertz
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Nefret had always had an uncanny ability to read his thoughts. 'Did she cry?' she asked sweetly. 'And then you kissed her? You shouldn't have done that. I'm sure you meant well, but kissing someone out of pity is always a mistake.
Barbara Mertz
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Nothing looks as self-satisfied as a contented cat.
Barbara Mertz
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Loving someone condemns you to a lifetime of fear. You become painfully conscious of how fragile people are - bundles of brittle bones and vulnerable flesh, breeding grounds for billions of deadly germs and horrible diseases.
Barbara Mertz
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The only way to do it is to do it: by writing, writing, writing.
Barbara Mertz
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I knew the answer, and--of course--so did Ramses. He has superb breath control and always gets in ahead of me.
Barbara Mertz
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..he continues to cling to the forlorn hope that I will turn into one of those swooning females...and fling myself squeeling at him whenever anything happens. Like all men, he clings to his illusions.
Barbara Mertz
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In the silence I heard Bastet, who had retreated under the bed, carrying on a mumbling, profane monologue. (If you ask how I knew it was profane, I presume you have never owned a cat.)
Barbara Mertz
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I disapprove of matrimony as a matter of principle.... Why should any independent, intelligent female choose to subject herself to the whims and tyrannies of a husband? I assure you, I have yet to meet a man as sensible as myself! (Amelia Peabody)
Barbara Mertz
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Martyrdom is often the result of excessive gullibility.
Barbara Mertz
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Cats always pick the laps of the people who don't like them.
Barbara Mertz