Ed McBain quotes

Ed McBain was an American author best known for his influential crime fiction and the 87th Precinct series. His works helped define the modern police procedural genre and have inspired countless writers and filmmakers. He remains celebrated for his realistic characters and sharp, suspenseful storytelling. Here are 16 of his quotes:

Changing writing styles is like an actor taking on a different part.

Ed McBain

I would certainly never suggest that any lesbian should be ashamed of her sexual preference.

Ed McBain

I enjoy what I do every minute of the day, even when the going gets tough. When I first began writing, I used to work at a desk in the bedroom, of a small development house. My three sons all under the age of 3 would come running in and out of the room every minute.

Ed McBain

It seemed to me... that the only valid people to deal with crime were cops, and I would like to make the lead character, rather than a single person, a squad of cops.

Ed McBain

A detective sees death in all the various forms at least five times a week.

Ed McBain

Depending on what I'm working on, I come to the writing desk with entirely different mindsets. When I change form one to the other, it's as if another writer is on the scene.

Ed McBain

I know that all cops are not sterling characters. But you have to have someone to root for. I balance it with rotten cops who will take a bribe, who will beat somebody up.

Ed McBain

I began using pseudonyms early in my career, when I was being paid a quarter a cent a word for my work, and when I had to write a lot to earn a living. Sometimes I had three or four stories in a single magazine without the editor knowing they were all by me.

Ed McBain

I would like to win the Pulitzer Prize. I would like to win the Nobel Prize. I would like to win a Tony award for the Broadway musical I'm now working on. Aside from these, my aspirations are modest ones.

Ed McBain

I wanted to be an artist. I was studying art. I wanted to be a great painter. When I went into the Navy, there wasn't much to draw at sea. So I began writing, and I began reading a lot.

Ed McBain

Its a matter of style. The Evan Hunter style and the Ed McBain style are very, very different.

Ed McBain

Readers are what it's all about, aren't they? If not, why am I writing?

Ed McBain

I have a book coming out in September, for example, where the plot concerns counterfeiting, and I had to do a lot of research on that. Or on any legal matters, for example, I have to do a lot of research online.

Ed McBain

I try to keep all my novels in print. Sometimes publishers don't agree with me as to their worth.

Ed McBain