Jane Austen easily used half a page describing someone else's eyes; she would not appreciate summarizing her reading tastes in ten titles. Tracy Chevalier More Quotes by Tracy Chevalier More Quotes From Tracy Chevalier You're so calm and quiet, you never say. But there are things inside you. I see them sometimes, hiding in your eyes. Tracy Chevalier calm eye quiet It's those little daily incidents of life that are dramatic, and if you put a frame around it , suddenly they become much bigger and much more important than you ever imagined. Tracy Chevalier dramatic important littles It's a rare book that wins the battle against drooping eyelids. Tracy Chevalier reading inspiring book Don't write about what you know - write about what you're interested in. Don't write about yourself - you aren't as interesting as you think. Tracy Chevalier writing interesting thinking I find that when I come out of the library I'm in what I call the library bliss of being totally taken away from the distractions of life. Tracy Chevalier library bliss taken So many (too many) books are published every year, and it seems everyone is writing a book. Perhaps we should all be reading more and writing less! Tracy Chevalier reading writing book He saw things in a way that others did not, so that a city I had lived in all my life seemed a different place, so that a woman became beautiful with the light on her face. Tracy Chevalier light beautiful life Younger women tend to be busier, wearing more layers and more make-up. I don't know if it's because older women are more confident, or just that we don't care any more. But that pared-down approach is the same with the sentences I write; I take out adjectives and adverbs and keep the description to a minimum. Tracy Chevalier adjectives-and-adverbs care writing I have consistently loved books that I've read when I've been sick in bed. Tracy Chevalier bed sick book You know I don’t listen to market gossip,” she began, “but it is hard not to hear it when my daughter’s name is mentioned. Tracy Chevalier gossip daughter names The sign of a masterpiece: A painting when there's a lack of resolution. Tracy Chevalier painting motivation inspiration I wanted to wear the mantle and the pearls. I wanted to know the man who painted her like that. Tracy Chevalier pearls wanted men I had walked along that street all my life, but had never been so aware that my back was to my home Tracy Chevalier streets home Normally book ideas come to me in a moment. Tracy Chevalier moments book ideas I try to write 1,000 words a day - about three pages. When I reach 1,000 words I feel good. Less than that: a failure. More than that: tired. Tracy Chevalier tired feel-good writing We say very little, for we do not need to. We are silent together, each in her own world, knowing the other is just at her back. Tracy Chevalier knowing together needs I have spent my life waiting for something to happen,’ she said. ‘And I have come to understand that nothing will. Or it already has, and I blinked during that moment and it's gone. I don't know which is worse — to have missed it or to know there is nothing to miss.’ Falling Angels Tracy Chevalier angel waiting fall My father was often impatient during March, waiting for winter to end, the cold to ease, the sun to reappear. March was an unpredictable month, when it was never clear what might happen. Warm days raised hopes until ice and grey skies shut over the town again. Tracy Chevalier ice winter father It was not a house where secrets could be kept easily. Tracy Chevalier secret house Over his shoulder I saw a star fall. It was me. Tracy Chevalier saws stars fall