William Landay Quotes

You can write a great book and be ignored. Literary history is full of classics that were under-appreciated in their own time.

When I was 30 or so - by that time I had become an assistant D.A. - I decided I would try to write a novel. To be clear: I did not decide to become a novelist. Honestly, it never crossed my mind that I could actually earn a living as a professional novelist.

Well, I outline fanatically. I am a long thinker and a slow writer, though I am trying to get faster.

Probably careful plotting reflects my personality. I am meticulous by nature. I can't imagine speed-writing anything that happens to pop into my head.

I'm a bit of a tech geek myself.

I love sports, as all Bostonians seem to. I love books and movies, as all writers seem to.

I don't ever write with a particular audience in mind. I just write books that please me.

I can't say that I ever actually decided to become a writer. It kind of snuck up on me.

I am interested in computers and technology, and art, photography, and design.

Good stories are driven by conflict, tension, and high stakes.

Genes are not simple triggers. No one is hardwired to commit murder or any other crime. Our actions are always the result of stupendously complex gene-environment interactions, and environment is likely to remain the more important influence by far.

Crime and legal stories, broadly speaking, are just where my interest happens to lie.