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Everybody's idea of a great book is different, of course. For me it's one that makes my jaw drop on every page, the writing is so original.

A classic is a book that doesn't have to be written again.

You don't have to be dead to write a classic, and you don't have to be literary to be smart.

What makes a book great, a so-called classic, it its quality of always being modern, of its author, though he be long dead, continuing to speak to each new generation.

I enjoy classics, but classics are classics for a reason. I prefer to focus on the future. There are a lot of new stories to be heard.

I like writing historical fiction.

The idea that I wrote something that stood for the way I feel about things, and that it lasts, that's probably my favorite thing that I've done.

I really hate the term 'historical novel' - it reminds me of bodice-rippers. But I'm hooked on research, and I really, really enjoy it.

I feel like writing a book there's always a version in your head that's an amazing version, but then you write the version that you can write.

My favorite literature to read is fairly dry history. I like the framework, and my imagination can do the rest.