'The habit that leads to writing success'

 

“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

The prolific Rice, born in New Britain, CT on this date in 1956, has practiced what she preaches turning out three dozen bestselling novels.  Many of her books also have been adapted into successful movies or television series.  And she reaches a worldwide audience with translations in some 30 languages. 

 

Rice was first published (a poem in the Hartford Courant) at age 11, had her first short story published in American Girl magazine when she was 15, and began writing novels in her late 20s.  Her debut novel Angels All Over Town won several awards and established her as a major writing talent.  Among her most well-known titles are The Lemon Orchard, Little Night, The Silver Boat, and Sandcastles.  Her most recent, Until Midnight, has just been released.

Rice said extensive research, creation of characters who are based on “real people she has met and been inspired by,” and her dreams all make up her stories. 

 

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