Meg Waite Clayton

Author of the international bestsellers The Postmistress of Paris, The Last Train to London, and 6 other novels

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Beatrix Potter on Writing First Lines – Sort Of

Meg at Beatrix Potter's TarnI’ve been rooting around in the life of Beatrix Potter, having so enjoyed visiting Hill Top Farm and assorted other Potter-rich locales in the English Lake District, from which Mac and I just returned. And I’m in the early stages of a new novel, so when I came across the following Potter quote, I simply had to share:
“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know were they’ll take you.” — Beatrix Potter
So much more optimistic than that saying about the first words put on the page beginning to destroy the thing now, isn’t it?!
It turns out that the quote is not from Potter herself, but from the movie. But it’s still a nice quote!
The photo, by the way, is me at Beatrix Potter’s tarn, which if you don’t know (I didn’t!) means a mountain lake or pool. She and her husband used to row and fish there in the evening. Mac and I hiked up there from our little cottage, on our way over to see Hill Top Farm. – Meg

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Meg Waite Clayton


Meg Waite Clayton is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of nine novels, including the forthcoming TYPEWRITER BEACH (Harper, July 1, 2025), the Good Morning America Buzz pick and New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice THE POSTMISTRESS OF PARIS, the National Jewish Book Award finalist THE LAST TRAIN TO LONDON, the Langum-Prize honored THE RACE FOR PARIS, and THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS, one of Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Essential Best Friend Novels of all time. Her novels have been published in 23 languages. She has also written more than 100 pieces for major newspapers, magazines, and public radio, mentors in the OpEd Project, and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the California bar. megwaiteclayton.com