I think Baltimore suffers from nostalgia and it keeps us from being honest in talking about what really happened here. A place doesn't have to be perfect to be beloved, and I love this city and I love it better for seeing its flaws. Laura Lippman More Quotes by Laura Lippman More Quotes From Laura Lippman I like books steeped in the quotidian - details about work and place. You can learn how to run a chicken-and-waffle restaurant by reading 'Mildred Pierce.' And I like fiction about money. Laura Lippman restaurant you money work People still struggle with this notion of gifted writers somehow being in touch with a higher power, but it's all about showing up and doing the job, meeting deadlines, working hard. Laura Lippman job power struggle people Every person you meet has a story. Laura Lippman meet person story you For me, crime fiction was an opportunity to sneak up on readers with social issues, something they won't go out of their way to seek. Laura Lippman me crime opportunity way I'm very empathetic - that might be one of my superpowers. Laura Lippman superpowers very empathetic might My husband, David Simon, and I make our livings using our imaginations. Laura Lippman david make our husband My husband and I are both proud public school graduates. Laura Lippman both proud husband school I spent grades one through nine in Baltimore City, leaving for reasons that had nothing to do with the quality of education I was receiving. Laura Lippman city nothing quality education Baltimore has been a punchline/punching bag for years - I've landed a few blows, to be fair - but those old jokes are out of touch. Laura Lippman bag old touch jokes Writing is a sedentary gig unless one has a treadmill desk. But I have long believed writing and working out are complementary disciplines. Laura Lippman desk out writing long I've long believed that the work-out life has lessons for the writing life. I've 'solved' a lot of books while at the gym, in part because I'm not trying to solve them at that precise moment. Laura Lippman moment gym life long If I waited to be inspired to go to the gym, I'd never get there. I schedule my exercise time; I schedule my work time. This is especially important if you have a day job as I did while writing my first seven novels. Laura Lippman day you work time Writers who don't read can't write well. It's that simple. The more you read, the better you read, the better you'll write. The upside is that you can't read too much, and even 'junk' reading can be constructive. Laura Lippman better you reading simple I never knew how passive-aggressive people could be until I became a parent. Or even aggressive-aggressive. It actually began before I had a child. A relative asked me out to lunch and told me I was too old for motherhood. Laura Lippman me lunch parent people The verbs that are used for people who write quickly are almost never flattering. Laura Lippman write never who people
