Alexander McCall Smith Quotes

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Alexander McCall Smith

Profession : Writer

Birth : August 24, 1948

I have three older sisters, so we were a reasonably large family and, in general, a happy one.

Alexander McCall Smith

I just focus on getting the first scene right, with a few lines about the overall plot, and then the book grows organically.

Alexander McCall Smith

There is this intimacy still in Botswana. It's a country of just under two million people, and there's this sense of connectedness, in that people tend to be related to one another.

Alexander McCall Smith

Serial novels have an unexpected effect; they hook the writer as well as the reader.

Alexander McCall Smith

I've certainly always had a very high regard for Botswana and so I paint a very good picture of the country and I've never pretended to be painting an entirely realistic picture.

Alexander McCall Smith

The point of opera is that people are moved by the emotions and music.

Alexander McCall Smith

Botswana is actually very peaceful. It's democratic. It never was in debt. They've been fortunate, they've had diamonds.

Alexander McCall Smith

Baboons take a bit of getting to know but, apparently, once you break the ice, so to speak, they are complex and interesting creatures with elaborate societies.

Alexander McCall Smith

I would certainly never consider myself a Renaissance Man; I'm not fit to look at the dust from the chariot wheels of many of those who have gone before me.

Alexander McCall Smith

I am capable of being idle.

Alexander McCall Smith

New York is a wonderful place to be up, an awful place to be down.

Alexander McCall Smith

You're always told by your publisher that you must only write one book a year and some years you should perhaps write none at all.

Alexander McCall Smith

My parents were very supportive and always encouraged us. My father was a gentle, nice man. My mother was quite a colorful character and a keen reader who encouraged me to write.

Alexander McCall Smith

I'm very interested in tea. I wouldn't mind being involved in some aspect of the tea industry.

Alexander McCall Smith

I write four books a year. I'm very fortunate that I write quickly; around 3,500 words a day. Being strict about delineating my writing time and personal life, as well as keeping distractions at bay, is the only way I can accomplish this.

Alexander McCall Smith

As a writer I've learned certain lessons. One of them is to be careful about how you put a view, and to bear in mind how easily and readily you'll be misinterpreted.

Alexander McCall Smith

Every novel presents a slice of life. A noir policier for example presents one slice, one that perhaps addresses social dysfunction or some sort of pathology, while mine present a slice that is more upbeat and affirmative.

Alexander McCall Smith

Painters aren't expected to paint bleak pictures, are they?

Alexander McCall Smith

Fiction is able to encompass books that are bleak and which dwell on the manifold and terrible problems of our times. But I don't think that all books need to have that particular focus.

Alexander McCall Smith

Many of my books are written from a female perspective. I rather enjoy the take that women have on the world, and certainly I enjoy the conversations that women have.

Alexander McCall Smith