Tracy Chevalier
Tracy Chevalier
Tracy Chevalier FRSLis an American British historical novelist. She has written eight novels. She is best known for her second novel, Girl with a Pearl Earring, which was adapted as a 2003 film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth19 October 1962
CountryUnited States of America
closer feels paper prefer routine school sit wrote
My writing routine is: get son off to school and sit down at 8 A.M. I read what I wrote the day before, and then write longhand, into a notebook. I prefer paper and pen because it feels closer to my brain.
failure good less reach three
I try to write 1,000 words a day - about three pages. When I reach 1,000 words I feel good. Less than that: a failure. More than that: tired.
pages turning
As a reader, I happen to like turning pages and wanting to know what happens next.
knowing together world
We say very little, for we do not need to. We are silent together, each in her own world, knowing the other is just at her back.
father winter ice
My father was often impatient during March, waiting for winter to end, the cold to ease, the sun to reappear. March was an unpredictable month, when it was never clear what might happen. Warm days raised hopes until ice and grey skies shut over the town again.
Say something worth the words.
reading eye appreciate
Jane Austen easily used half a page describing someone else's eyes; she would not appreciate summarizing her reading tastes in ten titles.
morning cutting clothes
As I get older, I use less jewelry - necklace or earrings each morning, not both; my clothes are getting more basic - fewer colours and simpler cuts; and my make-up is stripped back to basics.
writing adjectives care
Younger women tend to be busier, wearing more layers and more make-up. I don't know if it's because older women are more confident, or just that we don't care any more. But that pared-down approach is the same with the sentences I write; I take out adjectives and adverbs and keep the description to a minimum.
childhood london done
Although I always said that I wanted to be a writer from childhood, I hadn't actually done much about it until I came to London.
long life-is enough
Yes, well, life is a folly. If you live long enough, nothing is surprising.
home streets
I had walked along that street all my life, but had never been so aware that my back was to my home
stars fall saws
Over his shoulder I saw a star fall. It was me.
house secret
It was not a house where secrets could be kept easily.