Melisende

“I would say that fiction is something you write in spite of the research that you’ve done, not because the research you’ve done.”
― James Meek

“Books are so full of thoughts that some of them have learned to think.”
― Henry Hitchens (Browse)

“The first piece of advice I would give any writer is to read a lot and to read widely. Firstly you start to realize what’s out there and what isn’t out there. Publishers are looking for stories that haven’t been told before. Reading other people can also improve your own writing. I love reading poetry even though I wouldn’t think of writing it. A great poet can say in two lines what it takes me a whole novel to express. If I’ve learned from any kind of writing, it’s poetry – and the lesson is concision. What can you leave out and the reader will still get the message?”
― ian Rankin

“... history is a fog, a fog of uncertainty. The deeper one peers into it, the murkier and more uncertain the fog becomes. The instant an event has transpired and begins receding into the past it becomes vulnerable to memory and interpretation..”
― Don Hollway, The Last Viking: The True Story of King Harald Hardrada and the End of the Norsemen