My parents were liberal intellectuals but even they expected me to stay at home and look after my younger siblings and do the housework.

- Sara Paretsky

I have a friend who lives in the South Side of Chicago. I helped out at a church charity there where they try to give a bit of cohesion to a desperate area. Everyone was very welcoming.

- Sara Paretsky

The best source for finding an agent is called Literary Agents of North America. It's a complete list of agents, not only by name and address, but by type of book they represent and by what their submission criteria are.

- Sara Paretsky

I'm very honoured that there is a loyal following and I hope it continues.

- Sara Paretsky

Around the time I turned 30, I wanted to publish a novel.

- Sara Paretsky

Capo, my first golden retriever, so loved to swim she once jumped off a cliff to get into Lake Superior.

- Sara Paretsky

I always wrote; my first story was published in the magazine The American Girl when I was 11.

- Sara Paretsky

I realised I'd never climb Everest but thought I could still write a book.

- Sara Paretsky

It took me nine months to write 60 pages. It was very frustrating.

- Sara Paretsky

People have less privacy and are crammed together in cities, but in the wide open spaces they secretly keep tabs on each other a lot more.

- Sara Paretsky

No agent wants to see a book until he or she has decided whether to pursue the relationship.

- Sara Paretsky

Sisters in Crime now has more than 4,000 members worldwide.

- Sara Paretsky

The crime novel has always been my favourite genre.

- Sara Paretsky

Write what you care about.

- Sara Paretsky

You get weird and unsettling behaviour in the country.

- Sara Paretsky

In 1986 we were trying to help women get in print, stay in print, and come to the attention of booksellers and libraries. At that time, books by men mystery writers were reviewed seven times as often as books by women.

- Sara Paretsky

Most people don't have the money to spend on advertising to create awareness among readers, nor do they have the contacts at newspapers or magazines to get their books reviewed.

- Sara Paretsky

I'm lucky in having found the perfect partner to spend my life with.

- Sara Paretsky

I'm a grandmother, and a mighty proud one.

- Sara Paretsky

I went to college at the University of Kansas, where I got a degree in political science.

- Sara Paretsky