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" I was always meant to be a writer. I've felt that way since I was a child. "
Tess Gerritsen
Meant To Be
Always
Child
Related Quotes:
" My father said writing was a nice hobby. He strongly encouraged my brother and me to become doctors. "
Tess Gerritsen
Said
Brother
Writing
" I have minor characters who are Asian-American, and I've been using them throughout my career, but they've never taken center stage, they've never been really powerful, they've never expressed some of the experiences I had growing up in the U.S. Johnny Tam is the first one. "
Tess Gerritsen
Growing
Career
Growing Up
" It's what all writers dream of, that our work finds a measure of immortality that long outlives the words of any critic. "
Tess Gerritsen
Measure
Dream
Long
" Aside from the Rizzoli & Isles books, there are many other stories I want to write. The question is whether I'll live long enough to write them all! "
Tess Gerritsen
Want
Question
Enough
" 'Lonesome Dove' by Larry McMurtry and 'The Poisonwood Bible' by Barbara Kingsolver have stuck with me throughout my life, and I think that says a lot about an author's writing. "
Tess Gerritsen
Bible
Writing
Think
" I organise jam sessions every month. We have an open session, so everyone knows about it, and we can get as many as 30 people showing up at the house. Somebody will play a tune, and everyone will pick up on it. My best friends are all musicians. "
Tess Gerritsen
People
Musicians
Best
" Because I never plan anything out ahead of time, I'm always in the process of learning about my characters. Without a biographical sketch to guide me, I discover things about my heroines as the stories unfold. Only in 'Body Double' did I discover that Maura's mother was a serial killer. "
Tess Gerritsen
Learning
Me
Body
" I think of myself as a fairly logical, scientific and somewhat reserved person. Maura Isles, the Boston medical examiner who appears in five of my books, is me. Almost everything I use in describing her, from her taste in wine to her biographical data, is taken from my own family. Except I don't have a serial killer as a mother! "
Tess Gerritsen
Medical
Mother
Myself
" I raised two sons, and I know that even though they're bigger and stronger than I am, they're still little boys inside. They still cry, they still hurt. So whenever I write a male character, no matter how 'heroic' he may be, I think of my sons. And I remember that every man was once a little boy. "
Tess Gerritsen
I Am
Think
Man
" Writing is very much an emotional process; it requires you to be very in touch with your feelings. That is the opposite of what you're taught as a medical doctor. We're supposed to be detached and logical. Maybe because I started off as a writer and then became a doctor, I'm able to integrate those two. "
Tess Gerritsen
You
Medical
Doctor
" My father was second-generation Chinese-American, born in 1923 in California. My mother emigrated to the States from China when she was in her early twenties, in part to escape the political turmoil in China. "
Tess Gerritsen
Political
Early
Father
" Medicine is probably one of the best backgrounds for a writer to find stories. I always think cops and docs have the best background because we see so much of human behavior, such a range of human emotions. "
Tess Gerritsen
Think
Medicine
Best
" I always write on unlined typing paper and write the first draft in longhand, using cheap Bic pens. I try to write about four pages a day, which usually yields a first draft in six months. I don't plot ahead of time, so I'm flying by the seat of my pants for the first draft. "
Tess Gerritsen
Flying
Try
Time
" I was an anthropology major in college, and I've had a lifelong fascination with Egyptology, mummies, and all sorts of bizarre cultural practices. "
Tess Gerritsen
College
Bizarre
Cultural
" While the TV show 'Rizzoli & Isles' may have been inspired by my books, show runner Janet Tamaro has total control over where the TV characters go from there. As Janet once put it, I'm the birth mother, but she's the mother who adopted them, and now that Jane and Maura are living in her house, they have to do what she tells them to do. "
Tess Gerritsen
Now
Living
Control
" My dad was Chinese-American and very conservative when it came to his family's futures. He said if I wanted to have a secure job, I should go into science. So I did what Dad said and went to medical school, but the writing bug never left me. "
Tess Gerritsen
Family
Science
School
" Even if I never sold another book, I'd keep writing, because the stories are here, in my head. Stories that just need to be told. I love watching a plot unfold, and feeling the surprise when the unexpected happens. "
Tess Gerritsen
Feeling
Writing
Unexpected
" Alzheimer's is literally killing us, and the only way to fight this 'crime' is through a groundswell of people who continue to raise their voices and funds to ensure it gets the attention it deserves. "
Tess Gerritsen
Us
Way
People
" Only with maturity did I come to appreciate my own Chinese roots: not just the food and the ancient history, but also the philosophy of child-rearing and the respect for education and knowledge. "
Tess Gerritsen
Respect
Knowledge
Education
" My most successful books, the ones that I feel the strongest about, are the ones that started with a premise that for me was deeply emotional. "
Tess Gerritsen
Successful
Started
Me
" There is no better test of character than when you're tossed into crisis. That's when we see one's true colors shine through. So I try my best to make my characters personally involved in the plot, in a way that stresses them and tests them. "
Tess Gerritsen
Colors
Shine
Best
" In 'Last to Die,' three children living in different cities are the only survivors when their families are slaughtered. Two years later, their foster families are murdered, and these three orphans are once again the only survivors. "
Tess Gerritsen
Last
Two
Children
" My dad's cooking was magic in the kitchen. But eventually over the years, his personality changed and his ability to remember recipes failed. He became paranoid and thought people were stealing from him, when often he was just misplacing things. "
Tess Gerritsen
People
Thought
Personality
" Throughout most of my life, I've tried to downplay my Chinese heritage because I wanted so much to be an American. I was the only Asian kid in my elementary school, and I longed to be like everyone else. I insisted on American food; I was embarrassed by my mother's poor English. "
Tess Gerritsen
My Life
Mother
Food
" I'd been writing stories since I was a child. I wrote little books for my mom and bound them myself with needle and thread. Mostly, they were about my pets. "
Tess Gerritsen
Child
Writing
Myself
" One of the best Christmas presents I ever got was the globe that I now keep right beside my desk. "
Tess Gerritsen
Got
Desk
Christmas
" The hunting of monsters is not for the faint of heart. Nor is it for those who feel bound by such trivial doctrines as law or national borders. "
Tess Gerritsen
Hunting
Heart
Feel
" I think of all media, television is the most powerful when it comes to selling books, because when you have a feature film, yeah, there's a rush. But then after that month is over and the movie goes out of release, that's it. "
Tess Gerritsen
Powerful
You
Think
" I devote most of my day to writing, and try to turn out at least four pages a day. As for what triggers the creative process, it's a mystery to me! Characters often just walk on the page, and I wait to see what they do and say while I'm writing them. "
Tess Gerritsen
Walk
Me
Writing
" I sold my first short story while I was home on maternity leave, then began working on novels. Since I was reading and enjoying romance novels at the time, the first two unpublished manuscripts I wrote were both romances. I sold my third novel, 'Call After Midnight,' to Harlequin Intrigue after submitting it unagented. "
Tess Gerritsen
Reading
Story
Time