P. D. James, on writing:

I don't think writers choose the genre, the genre chooses us.

I wrote out of the wish to create order out of disorder, the liking of a pattern.

- P. D. James.

P. D. James, on writing:

 

Don't just plan to write - write.

It is only by writing, not dreaming about it, that we develop our own style.
- P. D. James.
 

P. D. James, on words:

Increase your word power.

Words are the raw material of our craft.

- P. D. James. 

Born on this day – P. D. James:

 

Writer

August 3, 1920 – November 27, 2014

Credits:

Books:

 A Certain Justice (1997); A Mind to Murder (1963); A New Omnibus of Crime (2009); A Taste for Death (1986); An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972); Bad Behavior (1995); Cover Her Face (1962); Crime Writers: A Decade of Crime (2013); Criminal Elements (1988); Death Comes to Pemberley (2011); Death in Holy Orders (2001); Death of an Expert Witness (1977); Devices and Desires (1989); Felonious Assaults (1989); Future Crimes (2021); Girl Who Loved Graveyards (1996); Great Law and Order Stories (1990); Innocent Blood (1980); More Murder Most Cozy (1993); More Murders for the Fireside (1994); Murder in Triplicate (1980); Murders for the Fireside (1992); Nursing Stories (1979); Original Sin (1994); Shroud for a Nightingale (1971); Sightlines (2001); Sleep No More (2017); Sleuths of the Century (2000); Suspicious Characters (1987); Tales of Obsession (1994); Talking about Detective Fiction (2009); Taste for Death / Devices and Desires / Original Sin (2008); The Black Tower (1975); The Children of Men (1992); The Detection Collection (2005); The Lighthouse (2005); The Mammoth Book of Great Detective Stories (1985); The Man Who... (1992); The Maul and the Pear Tree (1971); The Mistletoe Murder (2016); The Murder Room (2003); he New Mystery (1993); The Oxford Book of Detective Stories (2000); The Part-Time Job (2020); The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women (1995); The Picador Book of Crime Writing (1993); The Private Patient (2008); The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982); The Verdict of Us All (2006); The Victim (2019); The Vintage Book of Classic Crime (1997); The Web She Weaves (1983); Time to Be in Earnest (1999); Unnatural Causes (1967).

Movies and television:

60 Minutes / Segment: Murder She Writes (1992); A Better Read (1980); A Certain Justice (1998); A Mind to Murder (1995); A Ripe Old Age (2002); A Taste for Death (1988); A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley (2013); An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1982–1999); Ànima (2009); Apostrophes (1989–1990); Bestseller (2001); Book Four (1982); Bookmark (1988–1992); Breakfast (2005); Call My Bluff (1998); CBS News Nightwatch (1990); Children of Men (2006); Close-Up (1995); Cover Her Face (1985); Crime Writers (1978); Dalgliesh (2021–2023); Daphne Du Maurier - A Loving Spirit (1997); Death Comes to Pemberley (2013); Death in Holy Orders (2003); Death of an Expert Witness (1983); Desert Island Discs: Archive 1981-1985 (1985); Devices and Desires (1991); Did You See..? (1980–1987); Dinner with Portillo (2005); Elementary My Dear Viewer (2007); Forty Years at the I.C.A. (1987); Good Afternoon! (1983); ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards (2008); Late Night with David Letterman (1990); Late Review (2003–2007); Les Carnets de route de François Busnel (2014); Los Siete Locos (1987); Mark Lawson Talks to... (2006); My Life in Books (2011); Omnibus (1994); Original Sin (1997); P.D. James by Michael Taylor (2002); Pebble Mill at One (1983); Presumption: The Life of Jane Austen (1995); Pride & Prejudice: From Page to Screen (1995); Prisoners of Conscience (1991); Prisoners of Gravity (1993–1994); Profiling (2008); Question Time (1994–2004); Rankin on the Staircase (2005); Read All About It (1979); Reader, I Married Him (2006); Ruby (1998); Samtaler i natten (1995); Shroud for a Nightingale (1984); Speaking Volumes (1990–1991); Stevensons Travels Part 1 (1994); Sunday AM (2006); Sunday Best (2001–2007); Talking Books (2010); The Big Questions (2009); The Black Tower (1985); The Book Programme (1975 / 1976); The Book Show (2008–2011); The Fens (1991); The Heaven and Earth Show (2005); The Media Show (1990); The Murder Room (2005); The South Bank Show (2004–2010); The Violent Highway (2009); The Write Stuff (1988); This Week (2005); Timeshift (2014); Travels with Pevsner (1998); Unnatural Causes (1993); Upon Reflection (1990); Wogan (1987); Writers and Places (1983); Writing with PD James (1998).