'Think, Imagine, Write'

 

“What it takes is to actually write: not to think about it, not to imagine it, not to talk about it, but to actually want to sit down and write. I'm lucky I learned that habit a really long time ago. I credit my mother with that. She was an English teacher, but she was a writer.” – Luanne Rice

 

Born in New Britain, CT on this date in 1955, Rice has been a regular on the New York Times’ Bestseller List.  Her 36 novels have been translated into 26 languages and 5 have been made into movies – two of which were selected for TV’s “Hallmark Hall of Fame.”

Many of her novels deal with love and family, although it is about nature and the sea that she truly excels.  Among her works are The Lemon Orchard, Little Night, The Silver Boat, and Sandcastles and her most recent The Shadow Box .  She had her first published poem at age 11 and her first short story when she was 15.  Her debut novel, Angels All Over Town came at age 30.

As a just-beginning novelist, Rice would sit in on lectures on criminal law and evidence, mesmerized by how the cases would unfold and getting ideas for her writing. 

 

 She said she enjoys doing research, and also writes down her dreams – both of which make up parts of her work.  But, she said, she bases many characters on real people, including those she knows.  

 

“While novels are fiction,” she said, “mine are usually very close to my heart.”