Explore Quotes by George Pelecanos

I make a good spaghetti sauce and can mix a nice drink.

I never went to school for writing, never took a writing class, but when you're in a room with David Simon and Ed Burns and Dennis Lehane and Richard Price, and they're going over something you've written, you learn what works and what doesn't.

It would probably surprise people how prevalent reading is in institutions - and the degree to which some states discourage reading by instituting draconian rules and laws that try to limit and outright roadblock books in prisons.

There's nothing funny about violence. Death is a real thing.

For many years, I did ride-alongs with patrol cops, which is any citizen's right.

I owned a '70 Camaro for many years, which I loved.

I was heavily into John D. MacDonald.

My goal is to get a real film industry started in Washington. An actual one, not where features come to town and shoot second unit for a few days. I would love to get something started here. Hire local crews. People could work year-round and raise their families here.

I do miss the Chocolate City of my youth.

Sometimes I think 'The Wire' said it all, and I might as well not write any more crime novels.

My dad used to call me 'the dreamer.' He was right.

I want to be read. When you write a TV show like 'The Wire,' you've got three to four million readers watching your work. Even Grisham doesn't sell that many books.

I collect and read as many books about music and film as I do fiction.

'The Turnaround' isn't even really a crime novel. But you need conflict to make a novel, any kind of novel, and I don't know any other way to do it than crime.

There's a science to brain development. The brains of teenage boys are crowded with impulse and adrenaline. By the time they hit their 20s, their brains are dominated by conscience and reason.

There's a room in my house where my stereo, records, CDs, and books are housed. I spend a lot of time in that room, sitting in my chair beside the fireplace, reading and listening to music. Sometimes I just stand before the shelves and look at my books, because every single one of them means something to me.

'The Deuce' came about when David Simon and I were put in contact with a guy who, along with his twin brother, owned a couple bars in Times Square.

I was really rudderless at one point my life. And once I started reading books, then I got the idea that maybe I could become a writer. I had a goal. And every day when I got up, there was a reason.

I'm always working on my next novel, even when I'm not.

My goal is to get better with each book, and I feel like I am.

Incarcerated individuals want what most people want in a novel: good, honest writing and a story well told.