Mo Hayder Quotes

“My mother was so shocked when she finished Birdman that she didn't speak for nearly a week.”

 

“In most crime novels the violent act, usually the murder, is the engine. Take that away and there is little left to drive the story along. So I do get a little cross with authors who aren’t precise about the violence they’re using to create tension because I feel they’re being dishonest with their readers. If people don’t like the blood and violence in my books, fine, they can always close the cover and put it aside and maybe read a romance instead.”

 

“The graphic nature of my work is something of a backlash to the way in which I was brought up, I think. My parents were very anti-violence and my mum especially so. Tell any kid not to do something and they’ll automatically go ahead and do it. I was no different. Trying to steer me away from the darker side of life only served to make me more inquisitive.”

 

“Fear and fascination are so closely linked aren’t they? People deal with fear in one of two ways. I think they either recoil from it and walk in the opposite direction (lots of people just won’t pick up my books because they know the reputation I have). Whereas other people deal with it in a completely different way -- they become fascinated. That’s always how I’ve dealt with my fear. If I’ve got something that absolutely horrifies me I’ll go look at it in the eyes as clearly as I can. ”

 

“I would LOVE to write children´s books. I would like to be like Roald Dahl, one of my favourite authors - he´s so twisted he´s just brilliant. But I think I´d have to write under a different name.”

 

“I do love to hear people say my books scared them because it means they escaped for a while, and that, in my opinion, is one of the chief functions of a book. I can't say I don't get upset when people tell me I'm sick, but that's a minority and you learn to take it in your stride.”

Mo Hayder Mailing List

Join the Mo Hayder Mailing List and keep up-to-date with the latest Mo Hayder books, book tours, signings, speaking engagements, upcoming releases and more.  It's also the first place to hear about new downloads and content changes on the web site. Mailing list archive »