When I was a boy, my grandfather taught me the list of kings: Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius the Elder, Servius…

- Steven Saylor

Im like the painter with his nose to the canvas, fussing over details. Gazing from a distance, the reader sees the big picture.

- Steven Saylor

All writing is an act of self-exploration. Even a grocery list says something about you; how much more does a novel say?

- Steven Saylor

There is a fine sense of freedom that comes from wandering about a familiar city with no particular destination in mind, with no one to meet, no duti…

- Steven Saylor

I can't say I had an ideal father, and I'm not a father myself.

- Steven Saylor

Some men are one thing on the surface and another underneath. The true poet shows not just the exterior of his subject, but all the contradictions wi…

- Steven Saylor

In politics, reality and appearance are of equal importance. You cannot attend to one and neglect the other. A man must determine both what he is, an…

- Steven Saylor

Even the crudest, most derivative novel is an expression of the author's hopes and fears and ideas about good and evil.

- Steven Saylor

Not write what you know, but know what you write. If you write about a world before, after, or other than this one, enter that world completely. Sear…

- Steven Saylor