'How fantastic it would be for the writer to be granted an impossible insider's view; to hitch a ride on the tailcoat of her words.'

How fantastic it would be for the writer to be granted an impossible insider's view; to hitch a ride on the tailcoat of her words and hear her reader's synapses crackle.

The post Linda Buckley Archer appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'Trying to please is like trying to paint your raft a colour that someone on shore you haven't met yet might like.'

Trying to please is like trying to paint your raft a colour that someone on shore you haven't met yet might like; it's your raft, and you don't know when you'll get to that shore or who you'll meet.

The post Tania Hershman appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'I could really identify with Billy's feelings of being stifled and trapped by his environment and his family, and the need to get away.'

As a teenager I could really identify with Billy's feelings of being stifled and trapped by his environment and his family, and the need to get away and lead a more exciting, fulfilling and creative life.

The post Brian McCabe appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'My starting point for the Jamestown book was a manuscript list of nearly sixty women sent over to Virginia, which I consulted one freezing December morning.'

My starting point for the Jamestown book was a manuscript list of nearly sixty women sent over to Virginia, which I consulted one freezing December morning in the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

The post Jennifer Potter appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'Perhaps your subject went away; the war ended; you moved from your special place; the poet of youth grew old.'

Perhaps your subject went away; the war ended; you moved from your special place; the poet of youth grew old, or became Poet Laureate.

The post John Greening appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'One word after another, writing is walking; the journey completes itself. '

One word after another, writing is walking; the journey completes itself. Through the labyrinth, one word after another. Just write the next word.

The post Deborah Gearing appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'Should I give way to this common feeling that artists should contribute something to society; that is, in addition to our work?'

Should I give way to this common feeling that artists should contribute something to society; that is, in addition to our work? The writer throughout history has always been a defender of the individual.

The post Sally Cline appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'My natural habitat is a book-lined room, so a habit can be something in which we swathe ourselves, symbolic and protective, denoting belonging.'

My natural habitat is a book-lined room, so a habit can be something in which we swathe ourselves, symbolic and protective, denoting belonging, in which we wish to dwell; that sounds just like my reading habit.

The post Lucy Jago appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'You love Star Trek and Star Wars, because those things are like someone has gone into a laboratory and created the opposite of 1970s suburban London.'

You love Star Trek and Star Wars, because those things are like someone has gone into a laboratory and created the opposite of 1970s suburban London; don't feel guilty about enjoying popular culture by the way, it's going to have its moment.

The post Mark Illis appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'Selling books is as necessary as writing them but many writers, and I am one of them, have a love-hate relationship with the marketing.'

Selling books is as necessary as writing them but many writers, and I am one of them, have a love-hate relationship with the marketing of their books. This nearly always results from a mismatch.

The post Nicholas Murray appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.