Ruth Rendell
Ruth Rendell
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBEwas an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth17 February 1930
believe happens novel reader
I believe the most important thing you can do in any kind of novel is to make your reader want to go on with it and want to know what happens next.
activities characters disclose future judging noticed novice readers recent reveal work writers
In judging other people's work, particularly short stories, I have noticed how novice writers tell the readers everything about their characters in the first paragraphs, disclose their motives, reveal their recent activities and their future intentions.
good love people reader recovering stroke
People who have had a stroke and are recovering from it love being read to... especially by someone who is a good reader - it does help them to get better.
I've never met a murderer as far as I know. I would hate to.
I've never really been satisfied with a book. I always want it to be better.
good kept lose nicer none others people tried turning various wrote
I started by writing short stories, but they weren't very good; I tried them on various magazines, and none of them was published. People were nicer then about turning you down, and so I didn't lose heart - I kept on writing and wrote a lot of books, one or two of which I finished, and others I didn't.
becoming love people specialist strikes terror
Reading is becoming a kind of specialist activity, and that strikes terror into the heart of people who love reading.
people perhaps
People tell me the most extraordinary things. I've noticed it for years. Perhaps they know I won't be shocked. Or judgmental.
people
People are still being put into geriatric wards when they don't need it. They need treatment, not just being put into bed and fed.
afraid ask book food husband idiotic people putting replied written
People do sometimes ask me some really idiotic questions: 'Is your husband afraid of you putting arsenic in his food?' I replied that I have never written a book about poison, ever.
life people
The things I write about are completely removed from my own life, but people want to know the characters better.
awful nearly
I used to get an awful lot of letters, and they have almost all gone. I used to answer nearly all of them.
happen longer men nobody older ruth wants women
Some women say as they get older they're no longer noticed: they disappear. Men, for instance, don't see them. Nobody wants them. That doesn't happen to me because of who I am. Not because I'm any more scintillating company, but because I'm Ruth Rendell.
change common financial lose women worlds
Some women lose their husbands, and their worlds change because their financial circumstances change. All I have in common with them is a grief.