Jami Attenberg
Jami Attenberg
When we are young - or even 32 - we often say 'yes' to everything because we're worried that we won't know what we'll like if we don't try it.
detail eats eye favorite food
What a character eats is a detail - like eye color or a favorite song. But food is also our lifeblood.
We've all got flesh. I've just got a little more.
hundred pages time
You write a book, and after 50 pages you think it's about one thing, and then you write another hundred and you realize it's about something else, and then by the time you're done, you can look back and say, 'Oh, this is what it's about.'
cannot change family response trade
Your family is unavoidable. You cannot escape them or trade them in for another family. You also can't change them... but you can change your response to them.
discussion novels refreshing tale weight
Young adult novels don't shy away from the discussion of weight issues, and 'Blubber,' the tale of an overweight, not-so-sympathetic fifth-grader bullied by her peers, is a refreshing take.
Anything by Lorrie Moore speaks to a certain kind of person.
conscious generous work
As creative people, we should be really conscious of being of service in our work, being as generous as we can.
boys feminist tracts
No matter how many feminist tracts you read, you never forget what boys like.
I think when you first start out, you're writing books that are about your immediate place.
wrote
I wrote a novel. It's called 'The Middlesteins.' It's fiction. It's not a memoir. I'm not a spokesperson.
age branded early either people shake sort
People are branded as either 'fat' or 'skinny' from an early age. You sort of never shake it, even if you end up losing weight.
nearly
I think it's nearly impossible to write something fictional without having it be about yourself in some way or another.
agent ambivalent art believes business entitled looking love people work
I always tell people this when they're looking for an agent - they should love your work. You are entitled to work with someone who believes in you. Why do business with someone who is ambivalent about you and your art?