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Comment from the book world in April 2006

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April 2006

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Dan Brown's approach to writing

24 April 2006

'Writing is a discipline, much like playing a musical instrument; it requires constant practice and honing of skills. For this reason, I write seven days a week. So, my routine begins around 4 am every morning, when there are no distractions. By making writing my first order of business every day, I am giving it enormous symbolic importance in my life, which helps keep me motivated. If I'm not at my desk by sunrise, I feel like I'm missing my most productive hours. In addition to starting early, I keep an antique hour-glass on my desk and every house break briefly to do push-ups, sit-ups, and some quick stretches. I find this helps keep the blood (and ideas) flowing.'

Dan Brown, in the Bookseller

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Keeping Google in proportion

10 April 2006

'Nick told me to just fix the Google thing and the rest would be easy. Sounds like a job for a humorist. Google wants to give away 'snippets' of authors' work. Maybe we could work something out, there. But what constitutes a snippet? We might begin by stipulating that no snippet shall be as large as a full witticism. Then we might measure how many snippets there are in, for instance, 'A Million Little Pieces.'"

Roy Blount Jr, humorist, the new president of the Authors Guild of America, on how to handle Google, which the Guild launched a suit against last September

'An airport novelist'

3 April 2006

'I'm as proud as anything to be called an airport novelist; how great that somebody should want to take one of my books as a companion on a journey. I don't write to impress people. My intention is to carry them along by saying that first one thing happened and then another and another. People everywhere love stories and want to hear about hopes, dreams, disappointments, misunderstandings, rewards, loss - the human lot. That's why I'm so glad to be part of Quick Reads, an initiative designed to get adults who are reluctant readers back into this wonderful and rewarding habit.'

Maeve Binchy in The Times magazine

Quick Reads - News Review 27 February