...Bob Mayer spoke at The Pacific Northwest Writer's Conference in Seattle. He has a whole bushel of various pubs, cross-genre stuff. I liked a lot of what he had to say. These quotes are terrific. You can apply them to writing and writers, or really to life.

--“Nothing is important to the man who doesn’t have to do it.”

--“Never say bad things about yourself. There will be plenty of people around to do that job for you.”

--“If you’ve ever been divorced, then you know this: flashbacks and memories are not the same thing.”

--“In every sex scene I’ve written, somebody always dies. I guess that’s very telling about myself."

--“Ask any successful writer, or any successful anyone, and they will all agree: persistence is more important that talent.”

--“There are no real rules. The thing about writing is just that it has to be good. Hopefully, really good.”

--“Another word for writer’s block is laziness.”

--“Get some bum glue. Then glue your bum to the chair and write.”

--“Each scene has to have conflict and a purpose. Every scene is a mini-book. The characters must come out of it changed.”

--“The good part about your book is it’s yours. The bad part about your book is it’s yours.”

--“Writing is about the reader. Don’t ever forget that.”

--“You are crazy if you’re a writer. Don’t kid yourself. Writing is not normal.”

--“Anything I say that makes you upset or angry is probably the most important thing I can tell you. Most people don’t really want to hear the truth.”

--“Because you are a writer and crazy and probably depressed as all hell, you have to swim with words to survive.”

--Writing is the entertainment business. Whatever you do, make sure your words are somehow entertaining.”

--“Write your way there, even if the going’s dark, even if it’s wordy as hell.”

--“Writers think differently. We’re a very weird group.”