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" There is no point in asking a man a question until you have established whether he has any reason to lie to you. "

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" Thrillers have been traditionally very masculine books; the women characters often rather decorative. "

" Without books I would not have become a vivacious reader, and if you are not a reader you are not a writer. "

" When I'm writing a woman character, I don't think, 'What would a woman do?' I just think, 'What would this character do in this situation?' "

" Most of my stories have some basis in fact. "

" Culture clash is terrific drama. "

" People are much more complicated in real life, but my characters are as subtle and nuanced as I can make them. But if you say my characters are too black and white, you've missed the point. Villains are meant to be black-hearted in popular novels. If you say I have a grey-hearted villain, then I've failed. "

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" There is a real connection between Philosopy and fiction. "

" A very good editor is almost a collaborator. "

" Be a perfectionist. "

" I don't think there's any great mystery to writing female characters, so long as you talk to them. If you lived in a monastery and never met any women, maybe it would be difficult. "

" Movies have influenced all writers, not just thriller writers. "

" I use a professional researcher in New York who does all the legwork, all that stuff which would take me days and weeks of calling, waiting for people to call back. "

" In my books, women often solve the problem. Even if the woman is not the hero, she's a strong character. She does change the plot. She'll often rescue the male character from some situation. "

" For success, the author must make the reader care about the destiny of the principals, and sustain this anxiety, or suspense, for about 100,000 words. "

" The CIA's research program is described in a book called The Search for the Manchurian Candidate. "

" I enjoy learning technical details. "

" With hindsight, we see that the Soviet Union never had a chance of world domination, but we didn't know that then. "

" One of the hardest things for me, now that I'm famous, is finding people who can read my stuff and give me an honest critique. "

" An awful lot of thriller writers write women rather badly. So just doing it OK gets a lot of credit. "

" World War II is the greatest drama in human history, the biggest war ever and a true battle of good and evil. I imagine writers will continue to get stories from it, and readers will continue to love them, for many more years. "

" My favorite period is World War II, and I'm in the middle of writing my fourth novel set in that era. "

" We all now tell stories by cutting from one dramatic scene to the next, whereas Victorian novelists felt free to write long passages of undramatic summary. "

" James Bond is quite serious about his drinks and clothing and cigarettes and food and all that sort of thing. There is nothing wry or amused about James Bond. "

" The thriller is the most popular literary genre of the 20th century. "