Barbara Mertz
Barbara Mertz
Barbara Mertzwas an American author who wrote under her own name as well as under the pseudonyms Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels. In 1952 she received a PhD in Egyptology from the University of Chicago. While she was best known for her mystery and suspense novels, in the 1960s she authored two books on ancient Egypt, both of which have remained in print ever since...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth29 September 1927
CountryUnited States of America
men people giving
Giving other people advice is one of the most irritating and useless activities known to man.
trying arguing thread
To argue without knowledge is like trying to weave without thread.
cat people touching
Cats always made up to the people who hated them the most. Depending on how you chose to look at it, it was a touching manifestation of trust, or a malicious pleasure in human discomfort.
cat self looks
Nothing looks as self-satisfied as a contented cat.
cat approval
The approval of a cat cannot but flatter the recipient.
children privacy feels
Children, I feel, are as much entitled to privacy as human beings.
husband care doe
Husbands do not care to be contradicted. Indeed, I do not know anyone who does.
character writing knowing
Sometimes the characters develop almost without your knowing it. You find them doing things you hadn't planned on, and then I have to go back to page 42 and fix things. I'm not recommending it as a way to write. It's very sloppy, but it works for me.
reading ghost-stories stuff
I've been reading ghost stories ever since I could read. I'm immensely curious about ghosts and UFOs and all that stuff, but I'm a very hard-headed person.
ignorance maturity profound
That's maturity-when you realize that you've finally arrived at a state of ignorance as profound as your parents.
book way months
I can do a book in three months if I spend all day, seven days a week at it and, in fact, I work better that way.
book ideas pages
Getting an idea for a book is not the problem, but you need 300 ideas - an idea a page.
age youth easier
It is easier to counterfeit old age than youth.
writing habit latter
I have no writing habit. I work when I feel like it, and I work when I have to - mostly the latter.