Living In the Pages

“I can't create a vaccine, but I can, hopefully, make people laugh.“— Kayley Loring

“When I started writing my Brookston Housewives series, I thought I was writing a romance with lots of sex...I just felt like something was missing, and I thought, ‘So which one of these housewives is gonna die?’“— Shay Apple

“It helps a lot to have those writer friends—that community, that tribe—to be there and say “Hey, come on, let’s do this together, let’s help each other out.” Because there are some days when it gets hard!“— CeCe Ferrell

“I don't have that story of, "I've written since I was six," like I hear a lot of authors saying.“— Tillie Cole

“With paranormal, it's whatever you want it to be. It doesn't necessarily have to coincide with everyone else's vision of paranormal.“— Leslie Fear

“I just have a lot of brackets [laughs] that say, ‘Write something really great here.’“— Emery Rose

“I love antiheroes. I love writing about situations that, maybe aren’t comfortable in society…because that’s where I think all the fun is.“— Giana Darling

“There's no ego or personality conflicts that exist with Marlowe. She doesn't blush, she doesn't judge, she likes all genres...“— Alessandra Torre

“Being in that double position of authoring and narrating—and sort of seeing that & feeling that—was really cool, and took my respect for authors to a new level.“— Erin Spencer

“Even when I'm exhausted, I can do it because I love storytelling, I love my characters—and now, I've fallen in love with my readers!“— Dylan Allen

“I try to just focus on the thing I'm doing, and the work in front of me, because it's hard to count on much else.“— Kimberly McCreight

“Even if you want to write something, if something else is louder, you have to go with what's screaming.“— Q.B. Tyler

“That is the reason that I wake up every morning. I'm like, 'Ok, I'm going to work on this story, and I'm going to make it the best that I can, no matter how hard it is.'“— Saffron Kent

“I’ve always been a very twisty writer. Even most of my romance novels have some kind of twist that blows up in your face.“— Shanora Williams

“As I develop the story around the characters, bits and pieces of their personalities come through…they always, always, always surprise me.“— Carmel Rhodes

"I think we just try to talk ourselves out of doing the hard things we need to do with our art. And when you stop listening to that voice, and start working with it...then things go smoother.“— Tarryn Fisher

"I think the biggest thing you need to do is write for yourself. Write what you want to write—not what other people want you to write, or what’s expected of you to write.”— Kelly Elliot

"There’s just something about a forbidden touch or kiss…I just feel like I was born in the wrong time sometimes.”— Korrie Kelley

"I'm really inspired by people and what motivates them...so my plots usually evolve from the motivations of my characters.”— P. Dangelico

"I love writing—I always have.”— Charity Ferrell

"I'm just one of those writers where I like to draw inspiration from my environment.”— Monica James

"I just like the struggle.”— Dr. Rebecca Sharp

"I love that fact that something that we create might make somebody else happy!”— Jenny Kate Altman

"I have always been a writer. As for back as I can remember, I was writing on construction paper with crayons.”Emma Renshaw

"You know, it's like breaking that idea that melanin dictates what you're going to enjoy.”Nana Malone

"My mind has to be distracted for me to get over whatever is blocking me.”Nikki Sloane

"I am a lifelong Anglophile. I grew up reading Austin and discovered Georgette Heyer in college, which I didn't realize were romance novels at the time—but they totally were!”Martha Waters

"I just needed a piece of me, and a challenge—and it took off so quickly.”Willow Winters

"I feel really lucky that I get to (write) full-time now, and I’m so thankful, because I love it. I wake up excited every day.”Laura Pavlov

"When you write, you get attached to these characters, and you end up really wanting to dive further into them.”Kelsey Clayton

"I think [writing humor] is harder, because not everybody thinks the same thing is funny.”Alison G. Bailey

"I would have never guessed that picking up a book—an indie book—would change, and lead to all of this.”Charleigh Rose

"There's, like, a buzz when you release a book, and it's anxiousness, and nervousness, but excitement...I love releasing a new book.”CoraLee June

"Bits of my experiences now have been planted in my works before...Maybe it's not so strange. Maybe all of that is already in us, and our job as writers is just to unearth it and put it out there.”—Emma Scott

"There's always a romantic element, but that's not the point of the story—it never is. It's always about the growth of the characters.”L.B. Simmons

"I’m a big rewriter. My books change a lot from draft one to draft two.”Catherine Cowles

"I guess readers read to escape, and I write to escape.”— Susan Fanetti

"My goal was, when I published my first book, that I wanted forty-seven people to read it—47 people that I didn’t know—because I thought fifty was a stretch!”Natasha Madison

"One of the problems I have with my books is figuring out which shelf to put them on.”Suanne Laqueur

"It was a little bit of an uneven process in, kind of, building these three women in different ways. But I found it a great challenge—not one that I'm eager to replicate.”Megan Angelo

"It was a little bit of an uneven process in, kind of, building these three women in different ways. But I found it a great challenge—not one that I'm eager to replicate.”Megan Angelo

"I've been trying to desensitize myself, but it doesn't work...it just got really hot in here.”Matt Russikoff — She Said, He Said

"I hear of these people who are on such schedules, and I always say “Oh, I’ve got to become one of those people.” But I’m really not.”— Elizabeth O'Roark

"I thought it would be interesting to see the world that I knew through the eyes of these two young people.”— Paullina Simons

"I love secondary characters and I love having this full world for each book.”— Rebecca Jenshak

"I realized that hearing from the readers that your stories have really touched them, really is why you do this.”— Lisa Renee Jones

"They're not the typical warm and fuzzy [characters]—they're broken, and raw, and honest—so, that's the kind of people I'm drawn to.”— Willow Aster

"That's the thing with my books; I feel like they're all so different from one another that, if you're not in the right frame of mind, it doesn't necessarily mean it's not for you ever.”— Willow Aster

"At the end of the day, I've still got to get up and take the trash out and mow the yard and walk the dogs and, you know, life goes on.”— Jeana E. Mann

"Writing can be isolating as a whole, and it’s nice to have a teammate…you know, someone who’s just as invested as you…in the stories and the career and everything.”— Piper Rayne

"I find I do muse more on location than I do on people. If I go to the beach I'm inspired, if I'm in the mountains I'm inspired, If I walk through Williams & Sonoma I'm inspired...”— Kathryn Andrews