Top 15 Evan Hunter Quotes

I would like to win the Pulitzer Prize. I would like to win the Nobel Prize. I would like to win a Tony award for the Broadway musical I’m now working on. Aside from these, my aspirations are modest ones.

I only knew one thing about policemen: they were inhuman beasts. The problem was how to turn them into likable, sympathetic human beings. The answer was simple. Give them head colds. And first names. And keep their dialogue homey and conversational.

I know that all cops are not sterling characters. But you have to have someone to root for. I balance it with rotten cops who will take a bribe, who will beat somebody up.

Depending on what I’m working on, I come to the writing desk with entirely different mindsets. When I change form one to the other, it’s as if another writer is on the scene.

Changing writing styles is like an actor taking on a different part.

Sometimes I had three or four stories in a single magazine without the editor knowing they were all by me.

I enjoy what I do every minute of the day, even when the going gets tough. When I first began writing, I used to work at a desk in the bedroom, of a small development house. My three sons all under the age of 3 would come running in and out of the room every minute.

My first wife kept calling me Sal, and I finally said to her, ‘Why do you think I changed my name, honey? I really didn’t like the old name.’

I’ve never been a cop nor hope to be a cop, thanks.

I try to keep all my novels in print. Sometimes publishers don’t agree with me as to their worth.

It’s a matter of style. The Evan Hunter style and the Ed McBain style are very, very different.

Readers are what it’s all about, aren’t they? If not, why am I writing?

I would certainly never suggest that any lesbian should be ashamed of her sexual preference.

I have a book coming out in September, for example, where the plot concerns counterfeiting, and I had to do a lot of research on that. Or on any legal matters, for example, I have to do a lot of research online.

I think of myself as a softy. I think the 87th Precinct novels are very sentimental, and the cops are idealistic guys.