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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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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
Things
Write
Hadn
Character
Page
Back
Develop
Find
Pages
Without
Characters
Sometimes
Works
Recommending
Writing
Almost
Sloppy
Way
Knowing
Planned

More quotes by 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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If all else fails, we will simply have to drug our attendants, overpower the guards, raise the oppressed peasants to arms, and take over the government.
Barbara Mertz
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Now, Mama, Papa, and sir, said Ramses, please withdraw to the farthest corner and crouch down with your backs turned. It is as I feared we will never break through by this method. The walls are eight feet thick. Fortunately I brought along a little nitroglycerin-- Oh, good Gad, shrieked Inspector Cuff.
Barbara Mertz
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The opportunity to lecture had restored my good humor.
Barbara Mertz
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When one is striding bravely into the future one cannot watch one's footing.
Barbara Mertz
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It's not unsporting to thrash a cowardly cad,' said Simmons. 'Everyone knows you don't fight like a gentleman.' 'That might be called an oxymoron,' Ramses said. 'Oh--sorry. Bad form to use long words. Look it up when you get home.' The poor devil didn't know how to fight, like a gentleman or otherwise.
Barbara Mertz
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But the dust! And the clutter! My housewifely and scholarly instincts were equally offended.
Barbara Mertz
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love has a very dulling effect on the brain
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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I do not scruple to employ mendacity and a fictitious appearance of female incompetence when the occasion demands it.
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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Many persons lead lives of crushing boredom.
Barbara Mertz
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Noble causes have a deplorable effect on the morals of the persons who espouse them.
Barbara Mertz
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...Nefret said with a gusty sigh, 'Well, that's done it. We may as well join in, Ramses, family arguments are the favorite form of amusement here and this looks like being a loud one.
Barbara Mertz
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Superstition has its practical uses.
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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It is easier to counterfeit old age than youth.
Barbara Mertz
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there is nothing like a garden to rest the soul.
Barbara Mertz
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Children, I feel, are as much entitled to privacy as human beings.
Barbara Mertz