That's the best way to practice law, is writing about it and not having to be in the courtroom!

It's as if we spend our entire lives avoiding Jell-O but it is always there at the end, waiting.

She was pondering the option of law school, the great American baby-sitter for directionless postgrads.

I love piecing together intricate thoughts that people find compulsively readable and they can't put down.

My decision to become a lawyer was irrevocably sealed when I realized my father hated the legal profession.

I learned that lesson a long time ago. When you write popular fiction you're going to get bashed by critics.

I learned that lesson a long time ago. When you write popular fiction, you're going to get bashed by critics.

Most men cannot write good sex. I tried one time years ago and showed it to my wife, and she felt like laughing.

One thing that drives me nuts... well, let me ask you, when writers write do they not use quotation marks anymore?

I'm not itching to sue Amazon or Wal-Mart... they sell a lot of books. But the future is very uncertain with books.

Writing was not a childhood dream of mine. I do not recall longing to write as a student. I wasn't sure how to start.

I don't feel stupid, just inadequate. After three years of studying the law, I'm very much aware of how little I know.

I like to start with the first chapter, end with chapter 40. No flashbacks, nothing fancy, just a direct storytelling.

I looked at her and tried to speak, but all I could think about was how shocked she'd be if I said what I was thinking.

Privileged people don't march and protest; their world is safe and clean and governed by laws designed to keep them happy.

I cannot write as well as some people; my talent is in coming up with good stories about lawyers.That is what I am good at.

There are so many colorful characters in Florida. There's a lot of money, development - not all of it good - and corruption.

There are three types of words: words we all know, words we should know, and words nobody knows. Don't use the third category.

The first thing my family did when we moved was join the local church. The second was to go to the library and get library cards.

I am currently reading, "The Broker" by John Grisham. it is alittle slow to start so I will have to let you know if it gets better

One thing you really have to watch as a writer is getting on a soapbox or pulpit about anything. You don't want to alienate readers.

Shame was an emotion he had abandoned years earlier. Addicts know no shame. You disgrace yourself so many times you become immune to it.

Best-selling writers should go to bookstores to say thanks to the booksellers, to meet fans, sign autographs, sign books, talk, whatever.

Ricky had taught me a few cuss words. I usually practiced them in the woods by the river, then prayed for forgiveness as soon as I was done.

It's hard to read good fiction when I am writing, because if it is really good I catch myself sort of inadvertently imitating a great writer.

In my case, once you sell a lot of books and you are labeled a bestselling author, the serious critics are never gonna say anything nice about you.

I can't change overnight into a serious literary author. You can't compare apples to oranges. William Faulkner was a great literary genius. I am not.

The worst letters come from retired high school English teachers. They will literally take a book and pick it to pieces and send me 14 pages of notes.

I used to walk in a bookstore and see all these books on the walls. And I would say, 'Who wants to hear from me? What do I have to add to all of this?'

I was a lawyer for 10 years, and several of my clients had the misfortune, through no fault of my own, of going to prison. I visited them occasionally.

Right from the start, I loved the works of Mark Twain. Every time I read about Tom Sawyer, I'd go out and do something low-level naughty, just like him.

My name became a brand and I'd love to say it was the plan from the start. But the only plan was to keep writing books. And I've stuck to that ever since.

Most criminal defendants do not get adequate representation because there are not enough public defenders to represent them. There is a lot that is wrong.

Jesus preached more and taught more about helping the poor and the sick and the hungry than he did about heaven and hell. Shouldn't that tell us something?

My name became a brand, and I'd love to say that was the plan from the start. But the only plan was to keep writing books. And I've stuck to that ever since.

I seriously doubt I would ever have written the first story had I not been a lawyer. I never dreamed of being a writer. I wrote only after witnessing a trial.

It's a game. We tax lawyers teach the rich how to play it so they can stay rich-and the IRS keeps changing the rules so we can keep getting rich teaching them.

Death row is a nightmare to serial killers and ax murderers. For an innocent man, it's a life of mental torture that the human spirit is not equipped to survive.

I'm not good at raising money. I don't like to raise money. It's been my experience that when I ask someone for money, it's not long before they return the favor.

The Deep South has the friendliest people in the world. They will do anything for you. They also want to know what's going on and won't hesitate to ask questions.

We have the crime of the century every six months. So for people like me who enjoy, you know, taking these stories and writing about them, the material is endless.

Twenty years on, the books are still fun to write and I've still got lots of stories I want to tell, mainly about social injustice and people chewed up by the system.

I wrote a lot of 'A Time to Kill' at the State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., hiding in little committee rooms, killing time waiting for legislation to come to the floor.

I always do book signings with the same blue pen. That way, if I add a personalised message to a book I've already signed, it'll be in the same colour as my signature.

We learned after the first semester in law school that it's best never to discuss exams. If notes are compared afterwards, you become painfully aware of things you missed.

In life, finding a voice is speaking and living the truth. Each of you is an original. Each of you has a distinctive voice. When you find it, your story will be told. You will be heard.

In little pockets of conversation, old men were telling stories of ancient floods. Women were talking of about how much rain there'd been in other towns -- Paragould, Lepanto, and Manila.

Ten years from now I plan to be sitting here, looking out over my land. I hope I'll be writing books, but if not, I'll be on my pond fishing with my kids. I feel like the luckiest guy I know.

I had never written anything. And I had never studied writing. So my motives were pure: I had a great story... a courtroom drama that I sort of fictionalized, and that became 'A Time to Kill.'

Once again, I was reminded that Tally was the prettiest girl I'd ever met, and when she smiled at me my mind went blank. Once you've seen a pretty girl naked, you feel a certain attachment to her.

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