'It's the conversation between writer and reader'

 

“The craft of writing is all the stuff that you can learn through school; go to workshops and read books. Learn characterization, plot and dialogue and pacing and word choice and point of view. Then there's also the art of it which is sort of the unknown, the inspiration, the stuff that is noncerebral.” – Garth Stein

Born on this date in 1964 in Los Angeles, Stein was raised in Seattle where he lives and works as a writer and documentary filmmaker who has directed, edited or produced many award-winning films. 

 

He is perhaps best known as the author of The Art of Racing in the Rain, which has sold more than 4 million copies in 35 languages, and spent several years on the New York Times bestseller list.

 

Stein also is co-founder of Seattle7Writers, a non-profit organization dedicated to energizing readers and writers and their communities by providing funding, programming, and donations of free books to those in need, and generally inspiring enthusiasm for reading.

“I'm a writer because I love reading. I love the conversation between a reader and a writer, and that it all takes place in a book--sort of a neutral ground. A writer puts down the words, and a reader interprets the words, and every reader will read a book differently. I love that.”