Sidney Sheldon

Writing novels is the most exciting.

The fact that my female characters have strong personalities but are also physically attractive probably reflects the women I've known in my life.

Stories had always been told about male genies coming out of bottles, but they were usually fat, old men. Never had the genie been a gorgeous woman, so that idea really appealed to me, and I created the series based on that premise.

I worked in Hollywood as a reader and a would-be writer for about 6 years before I sold my first story.

I think people throughout the world identify with my characters.

I love the freedom that the narrative form provides.

When people tell me I've kept them up all night, I feel like I've succeeded.

If there is any secret to my success, I think it's that my characters are very real to me. I feel everything they feel, and therefore I think my readers care about them.

I go to great lengths to make certain situations feel right to the reader.

I wanted to make sure that the man who found the genie would not take terrible advantage of her, so he needed to be a person of integrity and honor - which is why I made the male lead an astronaut. The rest, as they say, is history.

I will not write about anyplace in the world unless I've been there to personally research it.

There's this sense of excitement because you invent and control the characters. You decide whether they live or die. I find this type of creative process tremendously stimulating.

The thing that made Groucho special was the way he used his body parts. He also had a wicked tongue. People didn't realize it, but when Groucho said something, he meant it.

What I do is put my characters into situations that are so precarious there is no way to get out. And then I figure how to get them out.

Abraham Lincoln because he was a man filled with great compassion who believed that all men are created free and equal, and was not afraid to stand on that platform. The way Lincoln lived his life has served me well in mine.

When you write a movie, you have a hundred collaborators. But when you write a novel, it's yours.

I try to give both my heroes and villains an emotional dimensionality which provides the motivation for their actions.

Usually, when people get to the end of a chapter, they close the book and go to sleep. I deliberately write a book so when the reader gets to the end of the chapter, he or she must turn one more page.

In a novel, on the other hand, you not only have to describe the rooms, but the clothes, the characters and what they are thinking. It's a much more in-depth process.

Talent is a gift that can be given, and it can be taken away. We have to appreciate that.