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I Made The Rules I Figured I Could Be The One To Break Them. I Thought I Would Write About Xenophobia, A Hatred Of Foreigners. After I Stated Writing The Story There Was Not A Foreigner To Be Had. I Did Not Want To Just Stick One In There So I Could Get A Title Out Of It Since It Seemed Like Cheating. I Never Figured Out How I Could Get Out Of This Dilemma So I Just Called It X And Weaved X Traits Into The Story.

-Sue Grafton

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I Made The Rules

Sue Grafton

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I Made The Rules I Figured I Could Be The One To Break Them. I Thought I Would Write About Xenophobia, A Hatred Of Foreigners. After I Stated Writing The Story There Was Not A Foreigner To Be Had. I Did Not Want To Just Stick One In There So I Could Get A Title Out Of It Since It Seemed Like Cheating. I Never Figured Out How I Could Get Out Of This Dilemma So I Just Called It X And Weaved X Traits Into The Story.

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You Can't Make Anyone Love You And You Can't Stop Anyone From Dying.

I've Never Written About My Husband, Steve, Or Any Of My Children Because I Know Them All Too Well. I See Them In All Their Complexities Which Makes Them Impossible To Render On The Printed Page.

Grief Rolled Across The Space Between Us Like A Wash Of Salt Water.

I Figure Guys Are Like Whitman's Samplers. I Like To Take A Little Bite Out Of Each And Then Move On Before The Whole Box Gets Stale.

Grieving Is Like Being Ill. You Think The Entire World Revolves Around You And It Doesn't.

Beware The Dark Pool At The Bottom Of Our Hearts. In Its Icy, Black Depths Dwell Strange And Twisted Creatures It Is Best Not To Disturb.

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He Might Be A Man Without Character, But She Was A Woman Without Courage. Of The Two, Which Was Worse?

Kinsey Was Never A Lawyer. She's Strictly Blue Collar.

Some People Can't See The Color Red. That Doesn't Mean It Isn't There.

I Attended The University Of Louisville My Freshman Year, Transferred To What Was Then Western Kentucky State Teachers College For My Sophomore And Junior Years, And Then Graduated From The University Of Louisville In The Summer Of 1961.

That's The Way The System Works. Sometimes You Get The Bear, Sometimes The Bear Gets You.

Who Knows What Part We Play In Other People's Dreams?

Ghosts Don't Haunt Us. That's Not How It Works. They're Present Among Us Because We Won't Let Go Of Them.

Grade School Was Perilous. ... I Can See How I Must Have Worried Them. I Was The Kind Of Kid Who, For No Apparent Reason, Wept Piteously Or Threw Up On Myself. On An Especially Scary Day, I Sometimes Did Both.

People Who've Had Happy Childhoods Are Wonderful, But They're Bland... An Unhappy Childhood Compels You To Use Your Imagination To Create A World In Which You Can Be Happy. Use Your Old Grief. That's The Gift You're Given.

Unhappy Childhood

You Can’t Save Others From Themselves Because Those Who Make A Perpetual Muddle Of Their Lives Don’t Appreciate Your Interfering With The Drama They’ve Created. They Want Your Poor-sweet-baby Sympathy, But They Don’t Want To Change.

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School Was A Source Of Great Suffering To Me, But Once I Learned To Read, I Disappeared Into Books, Where I Was A Happy Visitor To All The Worlds That Sprang Full-blown From The Printed Page.

My Notion Of An Elegant Table Is You Don't Leave The Knife Sticking Out Of The Mayonnaise Jar.

In My Opinion, There's No Condition In Life That Can't Be Ameliorated By A Dose Of Junk Food.

It Is A Truth Of Human Nature That We Can Ponder Life's Mysteries For Only So Long Before We Lose Interest And Move On To Something Else.

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If You're Unhappy, Change Something.

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I Love Being Single. It's Almost Like Being Rich.

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Pay Enough For Anything And It Passes For Taste.

If Your Mind Isn't Open, Keep Your Mouth Shut Too.

Age Plays Cruel Tricks On The Human Face; All Our Repressed Feelings Become Visible On The Surface, Where They Harden Like A Mask.

The Hard Thing About Death Is That Nothing Ever Changes. The Hard Thing About Life Is That Nothing Stays The Same.

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Dream Big But Think Small.

You Never Know Which People Will Affect Your Life.

After My Years In Hollywood, I Got Tired Of Apologizing For Work That Really Wasn't Mine To Begin With.

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I Was An English Major In College With Minors In Fine Arts And Humanities.

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Writing Isn't About The Destination-writing Is The Journey That Transforms The Soul And Gives Meaning To All Else.

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To Many Women Mistake A Man's Hostility For Wit And His Silence For Depth.

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When All Else Fails, Cleaning House Is The Perfect Antidote To Most Of Life's Ills.

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