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I always talk about my characters like they're real people.

I'm not in the business of meddling with people's destinies - and yes, my characters are real people to me. They have histories and thoughts and yearnings and hurts and misgivings and pleasures that don't belong to me.

Every reader knows about the feeling that characters in books seem more real than real people.

I treat all my characters as if they were real, and I am scrupulous about the details of their lives.

All I can guess is that when I write, I forget that it's not real. I'm living the story, and I think people can read that sincerity about the characters. They are real to me while I'm writing them, and I think that makes them real to the readers as well.

My characters are fictional. I get ideas from real people, sometimes, but my characters always exist only in my head.

If there is any secret to my success, I think it's that my characters are very real to me. I feel everything they feel, and therefore I think my readers care about them.

My characters live inside my head for a long time before I actually start a book about them. Then, they become so real to me I talk about them at the dinner table as if they are real. Some people consider this weird. But my family understands.

I think people throughout the world identify with my characters.

What's the difference between Hollywood characters and my characters? Mine are real.