Quote

What I love about the thriller form is that it makes you write a story. You can't get lost in your own genius, which is a dangerous place for writers. You don't want to ever get complacent. If a book starts going too well, I usually know there's a problem. I need to struggle. I need that self-doubt. I need to think it's not the best thing ever.

Harlan Coben

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Harlan Coben
Age: 62
Born: 1962
Born: January 4
Author
Novelist
Screenwriter
Writer
Newark
New Jersey
Thinking
Self
Form
Dangerous
Thriller
Need
Stories
Struggle
Complacent
Needs
Problem
Doubt
Thrillers
Writing
Best
Story
Starts
Thing
Ever
Lost
Scary
Going
Wells
Write
Writers
Love
Book
Makes
Usually
Think
Well
Place
Genius

More quotes by Harlan Coben

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I've never chased the dollar, I've always chased the reader's heart. I love having more readers. The more people who read it, the more thrilled I am.
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This is the price you pay for having a great father. You get the wonder, the joy, the tender moments - and you get the tears at the end, too.
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In short, the satisfaction of creating, not necessarily the process, always lifts my heart.
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The muse is not an angelic voice that sits on your shoulder and sings sweetly. The muse is the most annoying whine. The muse isn't hard to find, just hard to like - she follows you everywhere, tapping you on the shoulder, demanding that you stop doing whatever else you might be doing and pay attention to her.
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We all think that we are uniquely complex, that no one can see what we are thinking - yet we also believe that we have the rare ability to read others. This fascinates me at the moment.
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I love to make even villains people you can relate to. When you find out who did it, I think you almost like the person, which is not easy to do.
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When you like something and you're pretty good at it and you can make a living doing it, you don't ask why. You just count your blessings and go with it.
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Frankly I'm fairly boring or fairly busy. Between writing and family, I have little time for anything else.
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I still try to make the next book my best book. I want to grip and move you in unexpected ways.
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Trust is like that. You can break it for a good reason. But it still remains broken.
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A dancer on break approached him. She smiled. Each tooth was angled in a different direction, as if her mouth were the masterwork of a mad orthodontist. Hi, she said. Hi. You're really cute. I don't have any money. She spun and walked away. Ah, romance.
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Kate Atkinson is an absolute must-read. I love everything she writes.
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Writing my first book, I think in hindsight I went into it saying, 'It's gonna sell.' I was earning enough to scrape by sometime around a book or two before 'Tell No One.' I moved up from $50,000 to $75,000, then $150,000 for each book. I had never thought I would be doing anything else. I had enough encouragement.
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A trial is two narratives competing for your attention.
Harlan Coben
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I am very lucky that I get to tell stories for a living. I love being able to grab people's attention, to keep them turning the pages, to make them stay awake all night. I want to stir the pulse, yes, but also to stir the heart. I hope 'The Woods' does that.
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The first sip of beer on a hot day is like that first finger-dip when you open a new jar of peanut butter.
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Hope is cruel. Hope reminds me of what almost was. Hope makes the physical ache return.
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An hour before his world exploded like a ripe tomato under a stiletto heel, Myron bit into a fresh pastry that tasted suspiciously like urinal cake.
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I try to stress to my children that buying something never leads to true happiness.
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There are few times that I feel more at peace, more in tune, more Zen, if you will, than when I force myself to unplug.
Harlan Coben