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I think I want to write a biography, something with broad appeal, but I haven't figured out about whom.

If you start with character, you probably will end up with good drawings.

When I begin a book, I inevitably discover many things along the way, about the characters, their past histories and the political intrigues that surround them. This discovery process is vital, and I would not prejudice it by deciding too much in advance.

I have always loved reading, so was interested in the literary world, and took many literary portraits.

Great writing can be done in biography, history, art.

I tell beginning readers to read a lot and write a lot. If you want to write a book, find a subject that's really worth the time and effort you'll put in.

Many novelists take well-defined, precise characters, whose stories are sometimes of mediocre interest, and place them in an important historical context, which remains secondary in spite of everything.

I'm an avid biography reader.

I always work from an outline, so I know all the of the broad events and some of the finer details before I begin writing the book.

I'm always determined that as a novelist I'm going to go out there and research my characters very thoroughly before I start writing.