Hilary Liftin Quotes

#1. I'm so used to being separate from the publication process. I turn in the book to the editor and then I'm done.

Hilary Liftin

#2. I think that the celebrity memoir as a genre is looked upon as a lesser form. One of my missions as a ghostwriter has been to elevate that form. Maybe that sounds pretentious!

Hilary Liftin

#3. No one grows up thinking they want to be a ghostwriter. No one plans on that job.

Hilary Liftin

#4. None of my clients are criminals, but to a much lighter degree that's what goes on. I hear the story, and I hear it with the level of detail that breeds empathy.

Hilary Liftin

#5. Lizzie Pepper is pure fiction! The character is pulled from tabloids. But I think we all look at celebrity marriages and invest in them.

Hilary Liftin

#6. We exploit celebrities by caring about shallow things like whether they've gotten a facelift. And we violate their children constantly. But we also love them in a way.

Hilary Liftin

#7. I think one of the big things that's come out of ghostwriting for me is real compassion for the complexity of fame.

Hilary Liftin

#8. There are certain jobs I don't take because I feel no connection to the person. But if somebody is open with me, and honest about their motivations, and has some level of self- awareness, then I'm going to understand them.

Hilary Liftin

#9. Working with somebody who has a more interesting life than I do - and getting to take on that life temporarily - is an endlessly interesting way to have the experience of writing memoir.

Hilary Liftin

#10. I think people dismiss celebrity memoirs as unreal, contrived and maybe partially made up. But that's definitely not true for anything that I write.

Hilary Liftin

#11. I'm handed a bunch of existing data. My job is to put that in the best narrative form. That is a puzzle I love to solve.

Hilary Liftin

#12. I've been writing books without ego for a very long time. I feel like it will get what it deserves. Or won't get what it doesn't deserve.

Hilary Liftin