Jami Attenberg

“She wanted to read and talk and laugh and watch television and listen to the radio. She wanted to watch the world around her go by, and make up stories in her head about everything she saw...Like a princess in a carriage, surveying her kingdom, preferably one with a magical forest.”

“As creative people, we should be really conscious of being of service in our work, being as generous as we can.”

“I did get in a few fights in school. Kids threw around anti-Semitic slurs, not knowing necessarily what they meant. It was probably just something they picked up somewhere, as kids do.”

“For years I'd thought my color was black: deep, dark, thoughtful, mysterious. Black, you can hide behind. But now I know it is red.”

“Sadly, e-mail has triggered the decline of the handwritten note; I have seen its near-disappearance in my lifetime.”

“These people all woke up this morning and reminded themselves to be human beings. Not everyone knows how to do that. No vermin, my people. Real human beings.”

“The interesting thing about overeating or being obese is there's this physical manifestation of it.”

“Does everything in this life begin and end with Judy Blume? Perhaps.”

“It's good to pass on stories.”

“I know I have a problem with semi-colon abuse and have written page-long sentences. Nobody needs to be reading page-long sentences, at least not written by me.”

“Maybe I wouldn't hit three fast food restaurants in a day, but I could hit one in a day. I try not to do that.”

“Food and love are all intertwined at our core level. It can be a very nurturing, wonderful, loving thing.”

“Social media can connect you with other people in so many wonderful ways - but it can also make you really sick of yourself.”

“I feel a bigger sense of fulfillment when writing a novel, and short stories are more about instant gratification.”

“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.”

“Listen: I'm OK cute. I'm no stunner.”

“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.”

“I think when you first start out, you're writing books that are about your immediate place.”

“In the past, I was sometimes put in this women's lit category, and I was never really sure that was the appropriate place for me - although I certainly recognize it can be helpful and correct for other people.”

“We've all got flesh. I've just got a little more.”