Literary Birthday – 20 October – Kate Mosse

Happy Birthday, Kate Mosse, born 20 October 1961.

10 Quotes

1. When I’m writing I get up at about four and start with a really strong, sweet cup of black coffee. That moment when the light starts to come and the trees begin to get their shape back and the birds start to holler is extraordinary. I love being the one person awake in a sleeping house.
2. Actually, I can write anywhere – airport lounges, in bed, on a rattling train going north.
3. Five minutes of writing a day is better than no minutes. Too many new writers think that unless they have plenty of time, it’s not worth booting up the computer or sharpening that pencil. But think of it, instead, like practising scales on the piano before tackling that Beethoven Concerto or like warming-up in the gym – the more you prepare for writing, the better shape you’ll be in once you have time to really concentrate.
4. Writing is a job, a commitment, like any other. My favourite quotation is from Pablo Picasso who, at the end of this life when he was the world’s acknowledged greatest living artist, was asked why he still went to his studio every day. His answer? ‘When inspiration arrives, I want it to find me working.’ That’s it, for me. Work, work and work ….
5. Free and fair access to books – to reading – is a right and one we should fight for.
6. History is written by the victors, the strongest, the most determined. Truth is found most often in the silence, in the quiet places.
7. Usually I decide on what it is I’m writing next by the books I’m reading.
8. The message is clear: libraries matter. Their solid presence at the heart of our towns sends the proud signal that everyone – whoever they are, whatever their educational background, whatever their age or their needs – is welcome.
9. I just keep writing, I never stop. It doesn’t matter if it’s rubbish, if you screw up the digital paper and throw it in the bin – tomorrow will be easier.
10. We are who we are, be­cause of those we choose to love and be­cause of those who love us.

Kate Mosse is an English author and broadcaster. She is best known for her Languedoc Trilogy, starting with Labyrinth, which has been translated into more than 37 languages.

Source for Image

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kate_Mosse_2008_(cropped2).jpg

Patryk Korzeniecki (Patrol110), CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

by Amanda Patterson

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