41 Harlan Coben Quotes for You to Enjoy

Harlan Coben

American Author

Born: Jan 4, 1962

Life Me People Time Writing You

Related authors: F. Scott Fitzgerald Frederick Douglass Helen Keller Henry David Thoreau Joyce Meyer Mark Twain Og Mandino Zig Ziglar

Being a parent is not for the faint of heart. I may joke about knowing fear, but the fact is, the first time I ever knew real fear was the day Charlotte, my first child, was born. Suddenly there is someone in the world you care about more than anything. Harlan Coben

Time Day You Heart World Fear Care Joke First Born About Charlotte Someone Parent More More Than Anything Fact Knew First Child Faint Knowing First Time Real Than Child May Being Anything Suddenly Ever

The muse is not an angelic voice that sits on your shoulder and sings sweetly. The muse is the most annoying whine. The muse isn't hard to find, just hard to like - she follows you everywhere, tapping you on the shoulder, demanding that you stop doing whatever else you might be doing and pay attention to her. Harlan Coben

You Demanding Whatever Pay Pay Attention Else Everywhere Find Angelic Follows Voice Attention Like Most Annoying She Doing Sings Tapping Just Stop Whine Might Shoulder Your Hard Sweetly Her Muse

More than once, I've wished my real life had a delete key. Harlan Coben

Life Key Real Life Once Delete More Had Wished Real Than

You can't have an up without a down, a right without a left, a back without a front - or a happy without a sad. Harlan Coben

Sad You Happy Down Back Without Left Up Front Right

Let me back up a little and tell you why I prefer writing to real life: You can rewrite. A novel, for example, can be cleaned up, altered, trimmed, improved. Life, on the other hand, is one big messy rough draft. Harlan Coben

Life Me You Writing Example Big Real Life Other Back Back Up Tell Cleaned For Example Altered Messy Real Hand Up Improved Rewrite Little Prefer Novel Rough Why Draft

The state of New Jersey is really two places - terrible cities and wonderful suburbs. I live in the suburbs, the final battleground of the American dream, where people get married and have kids and try to scratch out a happy life for themselves. It's very romantic in that way, but a bit naive. I like to play with that in my work. Harlan Coben

Life Work Happy People Wonderful Try Happy Life Live Final State Way Bit Kids Battleground Out Cities Married Dream Naive New Like Terrible New Jersey Very Get American Get Married Scratch American Dream Where Romantic Places Suburbs Themselves Really Jersey Play Two

And I love the twist. I love to fool you once, I love to fool you twice, and on the very last page, quite often - very last paragraph sometimes - I like to just play with your perception one more time in a way that makes everything that came before just a little bit different. Harlan Coben

Love Time You Fool Sometimes Perception Before Everything Once Way Bit Paragraph More Like Makes Came Very Quite Often Just Just A Little Bit Different Little Little Bit Page Your Twice Play Twist Last

No characters in 'Stay Close,' including the leads, are black and white. I want them to be grey. I think that makes for a much more interesting reading experience, something that will stay with you a little bit longer. Harlan Coben

You Experience Will Black Black And White Reading White Think Bit Characters Stay Something More Longer Leads Makes Close Want Grey Interesting Little Little Bit Them Much Including

Writing my first book, I think in hindsight I went into it saying, 'It's gonna sell.' I was earning enough to scrape by sometime around a book or two before 'Tell No One.' I moved up from $50,000 to $75,000, then $150,000 for each book. I had never thought I would be doing anything else. I had enough encouragement. Harlan Coben

Saying Book Writing Thought First Before Encouragement Think Enough Else Earning Tell Would Would-Be Sometime Never Had No-One Had Enough Hindsight Around Doing Sell Up Scrape Moved Anything Anything Else Gonna Then Each Two

My house has too many distractions. There's the email. There's checking my Amazon ranking. I know I'm the only author who's ever done that, ever. There's the fax. Too many distractions. I like to go out and write. Harlan Coben

Too Email Ranking Out Distractions Fax Only Write Checking Like Know House Go Amazon Author Done Many Ever

I love to fool you once, I love to fool you twice, I love to fool you a third time. And just when you think it's all over, I have what I call that Carrie hand-out-of-the-grave moment. Just when you think it's all over, I'm going to hit you with just one more. I can't help myself. Harlan Coben

Love Time Myself You Fool Think Once Carrie More Over Call Hit Going Just Just One Help Moment Twice Third

I'd never had money growing up, and it's never been that important to me, except maybe to take our kids on a nice vacation or something like that. Harlan Coben

Me Money Important Nice Our Kids Something Except Take Never Had Like Been Up Maybe Growing Growing Up Vacation

I never bought the excuse of not having time to write. If you really want to do it, you're either going to find those hours or eventually decide not to be a writer. Harlan Coben

Time You Those Find Having Write Writer Never Bought Excuse Hours Going Want Decide Either Really Eventually

I'm not very happy idle. There's always this voice in my head that says, 'I should be writing.' Harlan Coben

Happy Writing Says Voice Head Always Idle Very Should

Children learn much more from how you act than from what you tell them. There are times this worries me - we parents are rarely the role models we want to be. True for life. True for driving. Harlan Coben

Life may not always fall into neat chapters, and you may not always get the satisfying ending you're looking for, but sometimes a good explanation is all the rewrite you need. Harlan Coben

Life Good You Sometimes Ending Looking Fall Chapters Always Get May Rewrite Explanation Satisfying Neat Need

You know, people call mystery novels or thrillers 'puzzles.' I never understood that, because when I buy a puzzle, I already know what it is. It's on the box. And even if I don't, if it's a 5,000-piece puzzle of the 'Mona Lisa', it's not like I put the last piece in and go, 'I had no idea it's the 'Mona Lisa'!' Harlan Coben

Buy You People No Idea Thrillers Mystery Never Had Put Idea Puzzle Puzzles Like Know Piece Call Box Because Understood Go Even Mona Novels Last

I would never write a memoir, because it would be too boring. Harlan Coben

Too Memoir Would Would-Be Boring Write Never Because

If I didn't write, I'd be like a duvet cover; I have no other marketable skills. Clearly I'm not meant to do anything else. Harlan Coben

Other Else Write Clearly Like Cover Anything Anything Else Meant Skills

There are three things that make a person a writer: inspiration, perspiration and desperation. Harlan Coben

Desperation Three Inspiration Writer Make Person Perspiration Things

Outlining is not writing. Coming up with ideas is not writing. Researching is not writing. Creating characters is not writing. Only writing is writing. Harlan Coben

Writing Characters Only Outlining Ideas Coming Up Creating Researching

If I don't write, I hate myself. Simple as that. My life is out of balance. Harlan Coben

Life Myself Balance Hate Simple My Life Out Write

We're called New Jersey but we're actually the suburbs of New York. Harlan Coben

New New Jersey York New York Suburbs Jersey Actually

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