Never open a book with weather. There are exceptions. If you happen to be Barry Lopez, who has more ways to describe ice and snow than an Eskimo, you can do all the weather reporting you want.

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• Elmore Leonard:

  I still read Hemingway. I still read his short stories because they're so good. He doesn't waste an

• Elmore Leonard:

  If I just sit here, what am I going to do? I don't have a trade. I don't teach or anything. I just

• Elmore Leonard:

  To me, writing is the most fun. It's not always fun, but finally when you make it come out the way

• Elmore Leonard:

  I do this a lot with names. I'll start with a name, and then for some reason he won't talk much, or

• Elmore Leonard:

  I decided to write Westerns because there was a terrific market for Westerns in the '50s. There wer

• Elmore Leonard:

  I want the reader to know what's going on. So there's never a mystery in my books.

• Elmore Leonard:

  A friend of mine who is in the publishing business knew I was writing a book, and he said, 'Have yo

• Elmore Leonard:

  When I get an idea for a book, something appeals to me, it's usually a character. I'll see a pictur

• Elmore Leonard:

  Everyone has his own sound. I'm not going to presume how to tell anybody how to write.

• Elmore Leonard:

  It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive.