Quote of the Day (Peter James, With Advice for Beginning Authors)

“The two best pieces of advice I can give are: Firstly, read, read, read the biggest-selling books in the genre you want to write, and deconstruct them—literally dissect them—to analyze what made then work, what kept you hooked, what made you want to follow the characters. Writing is a craft, at one level—if you were going to be a doctor, as a medical student you would be given a cadaver to dissect, to learn how it all worked. If you wanted to be a car mechanic, you would take apart a car and its engine to see how they work. The second piece of advice is: love your characters—even the bad guys. That was terrific advice I was once given. If you think back on many of the most enduring villains in literature, they have something about them that makes you them. Frankenstein’s monster, telling the doctor that he didn’t want to exist—the doctor created him! Dracula: a monster, but charismatic and charming. Hannibal Lecter—a monster, but we like him, so we engage and, in a strange way, care for him.”—Mystery novelist Peter James, quoted by Andrew J. Gulli, “Interview: Peter James,” The Strand Magazine, Issue XXXVI (2025)