Jami Attenberg
Jami Attenberg
book drinking writing
I wish I had the luxury of time to read and write like grad students do. That sounds pretty awesome. When I was writing my first book one of my friends was going to grad school at the same time and I heard a lot of stories about drinking, too. I feel like everyone was having affairs.
reading mean writing
Studying writing to me means reading and also rewriting obsessively. That's the best way to learn.
believe writing thinking
The very best parts of me go into my writing, it is the best version of myself, and I don't think it's hubristic to believe that that's worth something, worth someone else's time. It's the most I have to offer the world.
writing sitting-still wish
I wish I could write while I'm on the road but it never works for me. I need to be sitting still.
book writing lasts
My last book was speculative. I just don't quite know what I am doing. But I'll get there. I have a list of things I would love to write.
writing emotional historical-novels
I've been told by people who write historical novels that you just sort of write the emotional truth first, the story at the core, and then you go back and research it at the end.
crazy writing epic
I'd love to be able to write crazy epic plots. I'm working on it.
writing thinking contemporary-fiction
Most of my writer friends are women, and they're all extremely talented, so of course I think the state of contemporary fiction for women is pretty great. Which is to say there is a ton of amazing work out there. These women are writing hard. There's much to be said. We're on it, chief.
respects
There's something to be said for an author who clearly respects a reader.
decline
Sadly, e-mail has triggered the decline of the handwritten note; I have seen its near-disappearance in my lifetime.
Cooking skills aside, my mother is an exceptional nurturer.
anywhere near
I won't go anywhere near the new Times Square. It's seizure-inducing.
ate fat parents point themselves
I was fat because my parents were a little fat themselves at that point in their lives, and I ate what they ate.
I was fat because I lived in the Midwest in the 1970s, and everyone was a little fat then and only getting fatter.