There are cities that get by on their good looks, offer climate and scenery, views of mountains or oceans, rockbound or with palm trees. And there are cities like Detroit that have to work for a living.
Elmore LeonardI don't get in a position to be frightened. I don't do anything dangerous, and I always pay my bills.
Elmore LeonardI used to be able to write five pages a day, every day, no problem. Now a good day is five or four pages, and that's from 9:30 A.M. until 6 P.M.
Elmore LeonardThere are 500 million people on Facebook, but what are they saying to each other? Not much.
Elmore LeonardI get letters. I get several a week, I think. A lot of people want a picture, a lot of people just want an autograph.
Elmore LeonardMy purpose is to entertain and please myself. I feel that if I am entertained, then there will be enough other readers who will be entertained, too.
Elmore LeonardDon't go into great detail describing places and things, unless you're Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language. You don't want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.
Elmore LeonardI think any writer is a fool if he doesn't do it for money. There needs to be some kind of incentive in addition to the project. It all goes together. It's fun to sit there and think of characters and get them into action, then be paid for it. I can't believe it when writers tell me 'I don't want to show my work to anybody'.
Elmore LeonardA man can be in two different places and he will be two different men. Maybe if you think of more places he will be more men, but two is enough for now.
Elmore LeonardI never see my bad guys as simply bad. They want pretty much the same thing that you and I want: they want to be happy.
Elmore LeonardI once saw Dizzy Gillespie at a live show, and it made me want to go home immediately and start writing.
Elmore LeonardEveryone has his own sound. I'm not going to presume how to tell anybody how to write.
Elmore Leonard