Sara Sheridan Quotes

It is through our extended family that we first learn to compromise and come to an understanding that even if we don't always agree about things we can still love and look out for each other.

I always thought that bagels and lox was my soul food, but it turns out it's sushi.

Something I notice speaking to writers from south of Hadrians Wall is that the culture is different. At base, I think Scotland values its creative industries differently from England.

I jealously guard my research time and I love fully immersing myself in those dusty old books and papers. It's one of the most enjoyable parts of my job.

The sky was a sparkling succession of black diamonds on black velvet made crystal clear by the blackout.

I believe the era of the militant lady is back.

Without archives many stories of real people would be lost, and along with those stories, vital clues that allow us to reflect and interpret our lives today.

Research material can turn up anywhere - in a dusty old letter in an archive, a journal or some old photographs you find in a charity shop.

Writing about the 1950s has given me tremendous respect for my mother's generation.

I've found myself moved by letters and diaries in archives as well as trashy, summer blockbusters. It's possible to make a connection with any kind of writing - as long as the writing is good.

I've always had a keen sense of history. My father was an antiques dealer and he used to bring home boxes full of treasures, and each item always had a tale attached.

History is full of blank spaces, but good stories, invariably, are not.

For a novelist, the gaps in a story are as intriguing as material that still exists.

Writers of novels live in a strange world where what's made up is as important as what's real.

It may take a village to raise a baby, but hell! it takes an army to produce a book.

At the end of the day, that's what a family is - a group of different people who accept each other.

Researching books gets you into nothing but trouble.

Sometimes I create a character from a scrap - a mere mention that has been left behind.

Books have a vital place in our culture. They are the source of ideas, of stories that engage and stretch the imagination and most importantly, inspire.

It is one of the benchmarks of a culture I always think – the page at which it operates. A good way to measure it is to order a taxi and see how irate local people get if it is late.

Those who have not been stung will hardly fear a bee the same as those who have.

While I'm frustrated at the amount I'm expected to take on in the present, the 1950s woman was frustrated by being excluded - not being allowed to take things on at all.

Today women have the rights and equality our Victorian sisters could only dream of, and with those privileges comes the responsibility of standing up and being counted.

I'm not sure how much easier it is for a mother to balance her life now - have we simply swapped one set of restrictions for another?

Often we don't notice the stringent rules to which our culture subjects us.

Change occurs slowly. Very often a legal change might take place but the cultural shift required to really accept its spirit lingers in the wings for decades.

I had loved poetry and the theatre. Now I loved adventure more.

The net has provided a level playing field for criticism and comment - anyone and everyone is entitled to their opinion - and that is one of its greatest strengths.

I had never really understood what an adventure life could be, if you followed your heart and did what you really wanted to do, which is what we must all do in the end.

Writers are a product of where we come from but by looking at alternatives to the culture in which we live, we can find ways to change and hopefully improve it.

Scotland consistently produces world-class writers.

Writers need each other.

If we don't value the people who inspire us (and money is one mark of that) then what kind of culture are we building?

The new contract between writers and readers is one I'm prepared to sign up to. I've met some fascinating people at events and online. Down with the isolation of writers I say! And long live Twitter.

Everyone assumes writers spend their time lounging around, writing and occasionally striking a pose whilst having a think.

An aunt is a safe haven for a child. Someone who will keep your secrets and is always on your side.

Copywriters, journalists, mainstream authors, ghostwriters, bloggers and advertising creatives have as much right to think of themselves as good writers as academics, poets, or literary novelists.

For me, writing stories set, well, wherever they're best set, is a form of cultural curiosity that is uniquely Scottish - we're famous for travelling in search of adventure.

I'm a library user and I just don't hoard books. To me, they're for sharing.

A word out of place or an interesting choice of vocabulary can spawn a whole character.

Books exist for me not as physical entities with pages and binding, but in the province of my mind.

I find it inspiring to actively choose which traditions to celebrate and also come up with new ideas for traditions of my own.

We can learn so much looking outside our core field of expertise.

I didn't expect to love being online as much as I do. I've met some wonderful people and discovered that however arcane some of my interests that there are people out there who are interested too.

Grabbing readers by the imagination is a writer's job.

A book is a story, even if it's non-fiction, and once I've read it, I have the story with me inside my head always.

History at its best is a gritty, dirty business.

I don't choose between my house phone and my mobile. I don't choose between my laptop and my notebook. And I don't intend to choose between my e-reader and my bookshelf.

People make interesting assumptions about the profession. The writer is a mysterious figure, wandering lonely as a cloud, fired by inspiration, or perhaps a cocktail or two.

To me, reading through old letters and journals is like treasure hunting. Somewhere in those faded, handwritten lines there is a story that has been packed away in a dusty old box for years.