Jane Lindskold Quotes

A common complaint about stories that include excessive coincidence is that the story is 'unrealistic.' ~ Jane Lindskold

Words build a bridge between the imaginations of writer and reader, creating something unique between them. ~ Jane Lindskold

Copy editors are very important and too rarely praised. ~ Jane Lindskold

'Legends Walking' was the first of my books to go to a second printing based on strong initial orders, but much of that printing never found its audience. ~ Jane Lindskold

The sad thing is that, for many writers of fantasy fiction, the inclusion of magic seems to mean that logical ramifications and real-world laws both go out the window. ~ Jane Lindskold

True confession time: I never know where a book is going. I get a gut feeling the story is there, then pursue it with the enthusiasm of a hunting tiger on a trail. If I knew where I was going, I'd get bored out of my mind and stop writing. ~ Jane Lindskold

I realize that, to many readers, Hard Fantasy may seem to be a contradiction in terms. Fantasy, according to most generally recognized definitions, differs from both 'real world' fiction and 'science fiction' in that magic or magical creatures are active elements. ~ Jane Lindskold

Sometimes I write less than I'd like but do research. Other times, editor's notes or a copy-edited manuscript or page proofs for a forthcoming novel mean that I need to put my attentions elsewhere for a day or two, but I always come back to writing. ~ Jane Lindskold

You cannot escape that you are a woman," she began.
"I wish I could," Firekeeper muttered, but Elise continued as if she hadn't heard.
"Since you cannot, you cannot escape the expectations that our society and our class places upon women."
"Why?" Firekeeper said querulously.
"...Consider," she offered, "what you told me about learning to see at night so that you could hunt with the wolves. Learning to wear a gown, to walk gracefully, to eat politely…"
"I do that!"
"You're learning," Elise admitted, "but don't change the subject. All of these are ways of learning to see in the dark."
"Maybe," Firekeeper said, her tone unconvinced.
"Can you climb a tree?"
"Yes."
"Swim?"
"Yes!" This second affirmative was almost indignant.
"And these skills let you go places that you could not go without them."
Stubborn silence. Elise pressed her point.
"Why do you like knowing how to shoot a bow?"
"It lets me kill farther," came the answer, almost in a growl.
"And using a sword does the same?"
"Yes."
"Let me tell you, Firekeeper, knowing a woman's arts can keep you alive, let you invade private sanctums, even help you to subdue your enemies. If you don't know those arts, others who do will always have an advantage over you."
"All this from wearing a gown that tangles your feet? ~ Jane Lindskold

For all they have the means of faster travel, faster communication, faster just about everything, they seem to have less time. ~ Jane Lindskold

I don't need music to write, but sometimes I put music on. I don't need special clothes or even my own equipment. ~ Jane Lindskold

Readers are always surprised to learn that authors have little or no input regarding the cover art for their books. ~ Jane Lindskold

My feeling is that writing Fantasy should be harder - not easier - than writing any other kind of fiction. ~ Jane Lindskold

What if the only non-humans the two-legs know," she mused, "are the Cousin-kind? How stupid they would believe all others who walk the earth to be! ~ Jane Lindskold

I've had over a dozen and a half novels published since late 1994 when my first novel, 'Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls' came out. ~ Jane Lindskold

I think of myself as a storyteller. ~ Jane Lindskold

My first five novels were written longhand. So were hosts of short stories. ~ Jane Lindskold

When a writer is already stretching the bounds of reality by writing within a science fiction or fantasy setting, that writer must realize that excessive coincidence makes the fictional reality the writer is creating less 'real.' ~ Jane Lindskold

I started seriously applying myself to writing fiction immediately after I finished graduate school. By 'seriously,' I mean that, instead of noodling along on a story, finishing it or not as the mood struck me, I set out to complete what I started, to polish it to the best of my ability, and to send out the finished story. ~ Jane Lindskold

Writing - not being a writer with interesting habits - gets priority. ~ Jane Lindskold

For his part, Blind Seer had no difficulty accepting idleness. A wolf proverb stated: Hunt when hungry, sleep when not, for hunger always returns. ~ Jane Lindskold

I am a brother to dragons, a companion to owls. ~ Jane Lindskold

Well done, Sister," Blind Seer said. "I look forward to meeting this One above Ones. Now, you must make ready. I, of course, am already perfect. ~ Jane Lindskold

To be a writer, you need to like spending a lot of time by yourself in the company of imaginary people. ~ Jane Lindskold

There is no shame in strategic retreat if it lets you remain strong enough to go after the enemy later. ~ Jane Lindskold

I thought," Shad said slowly, "that she was offended if you referred to Blind Seer or Elation as her pets."
"True," Derian assured him. "Absolutely the correct etiquette - to her face. However, well ... When I first met Firekeeper, less than a year ago, her relationships with animals fell into pretty much two categories: those you ate and those you befriended. I remember that she thought we were pretty clever for bringing horses along so we wouldn't need to hunt our meat. It took me a while to show her they had other uses. ~ Jane Lindskold

'Thirteen Orphans' is the name of a specific limit hand. The same combination is also called 'Thirteen Improbable.' Once I'd decided I wanted to write a tale where mah-jong would be at the heart, I also knew I wanted to use limit hands. ~ Jane Lindskold

I love print fiction, but sometimes when I'm reading a good graphic novel or manga, I find myself envying those who work in an illustrated format. ~ Jane Lindskold

Firekeeper still could not understand the human penchant for eating in company. Even less so, she could not understand the human desire to combine business and meals.
True, a wolf pack shared a kill, but not from any great desire to do so - rather because any who departed the scene would be unlikely to get a share ...
She struggled ... not to bolt her food and almost always remembered that growling when a person spoke to you was not a proper response. ~ Jane Lindskold

One of the ironies of being a professional writer is that, if you are even moderately successful, the very traits that let you succeed as a writer are not much help when the time comes to head out as 'The Author.' ~ Jane Lindskold

The futuristic city on 'Legends Walking's cover rejects any connection with the contemporary setting of 'Changer.' It was as if every effort was made to keep readers of 'Changer' from finding this stand-alone sequel. ~ Jane Lindskold

When I was finishing grad school, the hot new PC was the IBM 286. Bulky. Immobile. Expensive. I touched-typed easily and quickly, but nevertheless, I realized that the machine was a chain. ~ Jane Lindskold

Jane decided he was certainly beautiful, with brown eyes and a well-shaped nose. It is a refreshing thing for an ordinary-looking woman to look at a beautiful man occasionally and Jane gave herself up to contemplation. ~ Barbara Pym

Even though we all know the facts, it's hard to resist the lure of a tan. ~ Jane Krakowski

Anthropology was the science that gave her the platform from which she surveyed, scolded and beamed at the world. ~ Jane Howard

The ancient Greek mathematician Ptolemy was born some time at the end of the first century. Ptolemy based his version of trigonometry on the relationships between the chords of circles and the corresponding central angles of those chords. Ptolemy came up with a theorem involving four-sided figures that you can construct with the chords. In the meantime, mathematicians in India decided to use the measure of half a chord and half the angle to try to figure out these relationships. Drawing a radius from the center of a circle through the middle of a chord (halving it) forms a right angle, which is important in the definitions of the trig functions. These half-measures were the beginning of the sine function in trigonometry. In fact, the word sine actually comes from the Hindu name jiva. ~ Mary Jane Sterling

You always have choices," the teen placed her hands on her hips. "You just choose to disobey."
I wanted to strangle her, yet I lifted an eyebrow to her claim. It would have been a mess anyway. "Oh? And how do you explain the matter at River Park?"
The question perked Jane to ask, "What incident at River Park?"
The teen's face whitened, her eyes bulged like pool balls. "I thought we'd agreed to not mention it!"
"We did," I said, casually. "But you should've known better than to trust a demon. ~ Millicent Ashby

Your brain is like a plant. If you plant a seed in it, it will grow into a big idea. ~ Jane Kang

They were blessed, said Jane; they were going to give birth to themselves. It would be themselves they gave birth to, only better. That was why she and Della must work so hard to protect them, their children. In protecting the children Jane and Della would also (Jane explained this over and over again) save themselves - ~ Amanda Coplin

Mr. Rochester : Your gaze is very direct, Miss Eyre. Do you think me handsome?
Jane Eyre: No, sir. ~ Charlotte Bronte

Flirting is a woman's trade, one must keep in practice. ~ Charlotte Bronte

Hey!" He snapped out of his musings as Destiny's hand trailed down his body to cup his less than interested cock through his trousers. "Claws to self, Vampira, I assume you brush your teeth twice a day but I have no idea where those hands of yours have been. ~ Jane Cousins

She read with an eagerness which hardly left her power of comprehension, and from impatience of knowing what the next sentence might bring, was incapable of attending to the sense of the one before her eyes. ~ Jane Austen

Among other strategies, he set up a "charitable lead trust" that enabled him to pass on his estate to his sons without inheritance taxes, so long as the sons donated the accruing interest on the principal to charity for twenty years. To maximize their self-interest, in other words, the Koch boys were compelled to be charitable. Tax avoidance was thus the original impetus for the Koch brothers' extraordinary philanthropy. As David Koch later explained, "So for 20 years, I had to give away all that income, and I sort of got into it. ~ Jane Mayer

It would be mortifying to the feelings of many ladies, could they be made to understand how little the heart of man is affected by what is costly or new in their attire.
(Jane Austen) ~ Jane Austen

Nobody in real life ever takes me seriously. ~ Jane Haddam

Mrs. Norris hitched a breath and went on again. ~ Jane Austen

Her heart did whisper that he had done it for her. ~ Jane Austen

Not they indeed," cried Thorpe; "for, as we turned into Broad Street, I saw them - does he not drive a phaeton with bright chestnuts?" "I do not know indeed." "Yes, I know he does; I saw him. You are talking of the man you danced with last night, are not you?" "Yes. "Well, I saw him at that moment turn up the Lansdown Road, driving a smart-looking girl." "Did you indeed?" "Did upon my soul; knew him again directly, and he seemed to have got some very pretty cattle too." "It is very odd! But I suppose they thought it would be too dirty for a walk. ~ Jane Austen

There is nothing incompatible about laughter and demons, nor about athletic achievement and depression. Mike Flanagan made me laugh, too. But mostly, he made me brave. ~ Jane Leavy

Very few Westerners, I thought, could tolerate such a way of life- for it would mean having to forgo the luxuries which we had come to think of as necessities. ~ Jane Goodall

Clinically speaking, depression is a pessimistic sense of your own capabilities, and despondent lack of energy. ~ Jane McGonigal

Tall, over six foot, ripped, and with sandy-blond hair that was just a bit too long, tats running down both arms to his elbows, cheekbones you could file your nails on, and lips that were just perfect for biting. ~ Jane Harvey-Berrick

Working in Hollywood does give one a certain expertise in the field of prostitution. ~ Jane Fonda

My very own goth Mr. Darcy. Jane Austen would be so proud. ~ Gwen Hayes

Elizabeth related to Jane the next day what had passed between Mr. Wickham and herself. Jane listened with astonishment and concern; she knew not how to believe that Mr. Darcy could be so unworthy of Mr. Bingley's regard; and yet, it was not in her nature to question the veracity of a young man of such amiable appearance as Wickham. The possibility of his having endured such unkindness, was enough to interest all her tender feelings; and nothing remained therefore to be done, but to think well of them both, to defend the conduct of each, and throw into the account of accident or mistake whatever could not be otherwise explained. ~ Jane Austen

They gave themselves up wholly to their sorrow, seeking increase of wretchedness in every reflection that could afford it, and resolved against ever admitting consolation in future. ~ Jane Austen

Trials are a part of life, but there is value in sometimes experiencing adversity which will test (and so strengthen) our faith and also build an understanding of God and ourselves. ~ Eric Ives

I thus concluded, with the same awe of Jane Goodall discovering the chimpanzees' nimble use of tools to extract termites, it really wasn't so much the tragic event itself, but others having knowledge of it that prevented recovery. ~ Marisha Pessl

All I want to do is make serious movies that explore social issues and turn a profit, and slip the schnitzel to Jane DePugh. ~ James Ellroy

I'm very fond of experimental housekeeping. ~ Jane Austen

You can't write an image, a metaphor, a story, a phrase, without leaning a little further into the shared world, without recognizing that your supposed solitude is at every point of its perimeter touching some other. ~ Jane Hirshfield

This time, I'm just going to do it. I'm going to cure him. Because why not? It would be so easy. ~ Charlie Jane Anders

Wake me up

when everything is organized. ~ Jane Seabrook

I think the man who could often quarrel with Fanny," said Edmund affectionately, "must be beyond the reach of any sermons. ~ Jane Austen

I'm of the mind that life is a risk, every time you leave your house it's a risk, and I see no reason to go through life with my hands tied behind my back for any reason. I'd be foolish to let something stop me from doing what I love to do. ~ Thomas Jane

One cannot have too large a party. A large party secures its own amusement. ~ Jane Austen

We all know that each generation has its own test, the contemporaneous and current standard by which alone it can adequately judge of its own moral achievements, and that it may not legitimately use a previous and less vigorous test. The advanced test must indeed include that which has already been attained; but if it includes no more, we shall fail to go forward, thinking complacently that we have "arrived" when in reality we have not yet started. ~ Jane Addams

In this flirtation he was conducting, he had had to rely entirely on his personality, never a good idea. ~ Jane Smiley