I can’t say that I ever actually decided to become a writer. It kind of snuck up on me. – William Landay
I love sports, as all Bostonians seem to. I love books and movies, as all writers seem to. – William Landay
When I was 30 or so – by that time I had become an assistant D.A. – I decided I would try to write a novel. To be clear: I did not decide to become a novelist. Honestly, it never crossed my mind that I could actually earn a living as a professional novelist. – William Landay
I don’t ever write with a particular audience in mind. I just write books that please me. – William Landay
Well, I outline fanatically. I am a long thinker and a slow writer, though I am trying to get faster. – William Landay
Crime and legal stories, broadly speaking, are just where my interest happens to lie. – William Landay
Probably careful plotting reflects my personality. I am meticulous by nature. I can’t imagine speed-writing anything that happens to pop into my head. – William Landay
You can write a great book and be ignored. Literary history is full of classics that were under-appreciated in their own time. – William Landay
Genes are not simple triggers. No one is hardwired to commit murder or any other crime. Our actions are always the result of stupendously complex gene-environment interactions, and environment is likely to remain the more important influence by far. – William Landay