The plot is very important because writers have to play fair with their readers, but no one would care about the plot if the character work wasn't there. So, basically every book I work on starts with me thinking not just about the bad thing that's going to happen, but how that bad thing is going to ripple through the community, the family of the victim, and the lives of the investigators. I am keenly aware when I'm working that the crimes I am writing about have happened to real people. I take that very seriously.

Karin Slaughter

You can take my heart, but I can't let you take my dog.

Karin Slaughter

i-can dog heart

Keeping libraries open, giving access to all children to all books is vital to our nation's sovereignty.

Karin Slaughter

giving book children

I never felt isolated; I just liked being alone. I think that some people are good at being alone, and some people arent, and as a child, I really liked it.

Karin Slaughter

children people thinking

I don't understand people who say they're bored. Look out your window.

Karin Slaughter

bored people window

Being a Southerner, Im interested in sex, violence, religion and all the things that make life interesting.

Karin Slaughter

violence sex interesting

Reading develops cognitive skills. It trains our minds to think critically and to question what you are told. This is why dictators censor or ban books. It's why it was illegal to teach slaves to read. It's why girls in developing countries have acid thrown in their faces when they walk to school.

Karin Slaughter

girl country book

Everyone had a reason for everything they did, even if that reason was sometimes stupidity.

Karin Slaughter

stupidity reason sometimes

Don't try to follow in my footsteps. Make your own footsteps! No one else can tell the stories that are inside of you except for you.

Karin Slaughter

footsteps trying

[On men:] ... you never know what they're like until you get them home and take them out of their packages.

Karin Slaughter

packages home men

As a Southerner, I love obstacles for my characters.

Karin Slaughter

southerner obstacles character

Reading is not just an escape. It is access to a better way of life.

Karin Slaughter

better-ways reading way

I went to a Christian School, and when I reached a certain age, I wasn't allowed to wear pants to school anymore. There was a big conference about it with my parents about how unladylike it was for me to wear pants ,this was a school where the principal and once of the coaches stood at the front door with a wooden ruler to make sure girls' skirts were an inch below their knee. So, from that day forward, I had to wear skirts, which meant that I couldn't play on the playground like I used to. I really feel like I could've been the next Serena Williams if not for that.

Karin Slaughter

parent christian school

Everybody had something horrible happen to them at one time or another in their life.

Karin Slaughter

one-time horrible happens

Books are not like albums, where you can simply download and enjoy your favorite chapter and ignore the rest.

Karin Slaughter

chapters albums book

You didn't realize what was passing you by until you slowed down a little bit to get a better look.

Karin Slaughter

realizing littles looks

I was with a real jerk after the first heartbreak, and once I did the prerequisite eating an entire cake and singing "All By Myself" in the shower, I realized that people treat you badly when you let them, and that I had to respect myself and not let anyone else treat me that way again. If someone really loves you, they are your biggest champion, not your biggest detractor.

Karin Slaughter

real love-you people

Talking of the local Sheriff, Jake Valentine, tall and skinny and his wife Myra, "She was a short woman, maybe five feet tall in her socks, the top of her head not quite reaching Jake's chest. What she lacked in height she made up for in girth. Jeffrey guessed she was at least a hundred pounds overweight. Standing side by side, the Valentines looked like the living embodiment of the number ten.

Karin Slaughter

valentine feet numbers

I have a few unusual fans, as you can imagine, so I try to protect the privacy of my home life.

Karin Slaughter

fans home trying

I can’t—” Lena repeated. “I can’t do it. I can’t live without him.” Sara gently pulled her hand away from Jared’s. She smoothed down the sheet, tucked it in close around his side. She looked at Lena—really looked at her straight in the eye. “Good,” Sara told her. “Now you know how it feels.

Karin Slaughter

eye sides hands

I'm afraid of the general things that everyone is afraid of: a bump in the night that could be a cat or Death dragging his sickle across the room; losing my health; becoming homeless, never meeting George Clooney.

Karin Slaughter

cat losing night