History asks us to imagine ourselves in a period, but it's a very different situation when you're in that period and faced with those situations. Philip Kerr More Quotes by Philip Kerr More Quotes From Philip Kerr A lot of crime writing suffers from treading water. I feel an obligation to move the character on and not repeat myself. I try to fit him into a different period and a different agenda. That way, you learn slightly more about his personal history in the tradition of the unreliable narrator. It makes it more challenging to write. Philip Kerr myselfcharacterwaterhistory All nationalism is based on racism and hate. I'm Scottish; I was born in Scotland, as my parents, as my grandparents. Philip Kerr parentsbornhateracism The hardest thing is to write about people. First and foremost, you have to encounter their humanity. That is the only way you can make them live as characters on the page. Philip Kerr youhumanitypeopleway As a writer, you rely on whatever makes you up as a person, whether those things are twisted and nasty or otherwise. Philip Kerr whateverpersonthingsyou There is always a temptation to take things for granted, to get lazy, and to presume that the reader knows more than they do. Philip Kerr thingsalwayslazytemptation I think the context of an hour-long drama gives breathing space that you don't get in a film. Philip Kerr thinkyouspacedrama Publishers just want you to write the same book over and over again. But why would I want to do that? It would be like putting on a threadbare dressing-gown day after day. Philip Kerr dayyouwantbook Religion was quite a thing in our house - we were Baptists. Some Sundays I went to church three times. If there was a talk on missionary work in the afternoon, I could be there all bloody day. But religion took its first big knock after Dad died. Philip Kerr daydadworkreligion I don't really like heroes who always behave heroically. That's not interesting to me. Philip Kerr likemealwaysinteresting I write by hand and then transfer the text onto the computer. I like the process of actually having a pen in my hand. Things flow more easily for me that way. Philip Kerr penmeprocessway I love sitting at my desk and facing a quiet day with a pen in my hand, and putting myself into a story. It's kind of weird, isn't it? I mean, to absent myself from real life and make up stories is strange, but I started doing this when I was ten years old. It was all I wanted to do. Philip Kerr daymyselflovelife If I weren't a writer, I think I might have thrown myself more enthusiastically into advertising. But, it's difficult to imagine being a diligent copywriter. It would be quite exasperating for me. Philip Kerr myselfthinkmeadvertising I was a member of Corstorphine Library in Edinburgh, and every Friday night, my parents took me there to borrow books. I also used to spend nearly all my pocket money on books. Philip Kerr parentsmemoneynight James Bond was an early favourite, although I didn't understand much of it. I read the Bible a lot, too. You might say that this was my favourite, since I seemed to read it so often. Philip Kerr bondunderstandyoubible I prefer to write books for children instead of reading them. But I do strongly believe in childhood and in respecting childhood innocence. I don't like books for children that deal with adult themes. Philip Kerr childhoodreadingbelievechildren I used to play quite a good lead guitar, R&B style. Clapton and BB King are heroes. Philip Kerr kinggoodstyleguitar My parents had never been to Germany. But I knew what I didn't want to write about, and I didn't want to write about Edinburgh. A lot of writers find Edinburgh fascinating, but I never did. As a matter of fact, I couldn't wait to get away from it. Philip Kerr waitparentsnevermatter There's a great tradition among the English of writing about Berlin. It's kind of a state of mind, almost. That even translates in terms of music. A lot of people go to Berlin with the idea that it's a state of mind. Philip Kerr greatmusicmindpeople I don't think any of us know how we would react until we were put in a situation where we have to do something bad or do something good. I think I'd like to believe I'd act like a decent human being, but I'm realistic to know I don't know. Philip Kerr goodthinksituationbelieve I always try to find a story in the margins of history, but I don't like to do too much that's improbable. Philip Kerr storytryalwayshistory
