Literary Birthday – 11 July – Mark Greaney

Happy Birthday, Mark Greaney, born on 11 July 1967.

Mark Greaney Quotes

1. I don’t really write outlines. I sort of write little stories about what the book is about before I do any research or anything. (TheRealBookSpy)
2. I always say the book that you haven’t started yet is the best book ever because you’re not actively working on it. It’s like fantasy land. You’re like ‘oh, my gosh, that is going to blow people away,’ and you haven’t written a single word. (TheRealBookSpy)
3. Don’t worry about how good you are. Worry about how much you are producing. If you generate pages, you will get better, and if you generate enough pages, you will get good. Quality will come and nothing else should matter except for the quality of your work, because that’s the only area where you have complete control. (Writer’sDigest)
4. I want some sort of tension on every page, and this propels the story. Obviously you need a good plot, and if you don’t create characters that readers care about you’re dead in the water, but there is something about keeping the heat up throughout the book that I really think turns a story from good to great. A ticking clock, a vulnerable lead character, a brilliant foe with a plan that makes sense for him or her; these are all crucial elements, as well. (JeffCircle)
5. I write in the mornings, usually (unless I have a tight deadline, then I write day and night). For the longest time I wrote in coffee shops with my headphones on and the sound of rain playing, but now I write in my office, which is in the pool house behind our home. It’s as secluded as I need it to be. I still listen to rain in my headphones, and I still have coffee nearby, so I have the coffee shop feel without having a bunch of strangers sitting down with me every day telling me I should write a book about them! (JeffCircle)
6. I really think that I can have 97 percent of my first draft done and I still don’t have anything resembling a book. It’s probably just my own mental block, but I have to go back through the entire thing again and again to slowly mold the big blob of clay I created into a novel I can be proud of. (JeffCircle)
7. Nowadays, I love when I walk my dog, I’m thinking about the book I’m working on. I love the process of my mind getting sucked into the book I’m writing. It’s where I want my mind to be. My favourite part of the writing process is the absorption in the creative task. (HuffPost)

Mark Greaney is an American author. He has degrees in political science and international relations, subjects which became major focuses of his writing career. He is known for his Gray Man series of action thriller novels, which feature assassin and CIA operative Court Gentry. Fifteen Gray Man novels have been released to date, and his 16th, Dark Union, will be released in 2027. Netflix released the film version of The Gray Man in 2022. Mark is also the #1 New York Times bestselling author or co-author of seven Tom Clancy novels. Follow him on Instagram.

Source for photograph: Mark Greaney Media Room

by Amanda Patterson
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