Quotes by Alexander McCall Smith

About Alexander McCall Smith:

R. Alexander is a British writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late twentieth century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees concerned with these issues. He has since become internationally known as a writer of fiction. He is most widely known as the creator of the The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. "McCall" is not a middle name: his surname is "McCall Smith".
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I just focus on getting the first scene right, with a few lines about the overall plot, and then the book grows organically.

Alexander McCall Smith

A very powerful theme in fiction is that of loss.

Alexander McCall Smith

There is this intimacy still in Botswana. It's a country of just under two million people, and there's this sense of connectedness, in that people tend to be related to one another.

Alexander McCall Smith

As a writer, you have to realize that people want to like the characters, so you have to be careful to keep them involved.

Alexander McCall Smith

Who can't like pigs? They're wonderful creatures! I've always liked pigs.

Alexander McCall Smith

You do not have to ladle on the impasto to make a point about human frailty or ambitions.

Alexander McCall Smith

I would never inflict my bassoon on anybody really other than the long suffering audiences that come to the concerts of The Really Terrible Orchestra; which actually is really terrible.

Alexander McCall Smith

You're always told by your publisher that you must only write one book a year and some years you should perhaps write none at all.

Alexander McCall Smith

Writing fiction, I really just sit there and it just comes.

Alexander McCall Smith

Every single day, I get letters - very moving, overwhelming letters - testifying how much my books have meant to people in times of crisis in their lives, when they were very ill, say. If I ever doubted that writing could play an important part in pe...

Alexander McCall Smith

Baboons take a bit of getting to know but, apparently, once you break the ice, so to speak, they are complex and interesting creatures with elaborate societies.

Alexander McCall Smith

My parents were very supportive and always encouraged us. My father was a gentle, nice man. My mother was quite a colorful character and a keen reader who encouraged me to write.

Alexander McCall Smith

I've always had a creative urge and I get immense satisfaction from creating something because it feels like I'm making sense of the world and imposing order on it.

Alexander McCall Smith

New York is a wonderful place to be up, an awful place to be down.

Alexander McCall Smith

I am capable of being idle.

Alexander McCall Smith

Our stomachs live in towns," said Mma Potokwani, patting the front of her dress. 'That is where the work is. Our stomachs know that. But our hearts are usually somewhere else.

Alexander McCall Smith

Memories of that which we have lost are curious things - weeks, months, even years may pass without recollection of them and then, quite suddenly, something will remind us of a lost friend, or of a favourite possession that has been mislaid or destro...

Alexander McCall Smith

But you cannot expect every writer to dwell on human suffering. I think my books do deal with grave issues. People who say they are too positive probably haven't read them.

Alexander McCall Smith

My Botswana books are positive, and I've never really sought to deny that. They are positive. They present a very positive picture of the country. And I think that that is perfectly defensible given that there is so much written about Africa which is...

Alexander McCall Smith

With '44 Scotland Street' I found myself having to work out how a daily novel works, and it is completely different to a conventional novel.

Alexander McCall Smith

Many of my books are written from a female perspective. I rather enjoy the take that women have on the world, and certainly I enjoy the conversations that women have.

Alexander McCall Smith

Author Bio

  • NameAlexander McCall Smith
  • DescriptionBritish writer
  • BornAugust 24, 1948
  • CountryUnited Kingdom
  • ProfessionWriter
  • WorksThe No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
  • AwardsCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire; Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize