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" I cried to my mother that I wanted to go to Hebrew school; I wanted Jewish friends. But when my mother took me, the kids there all knew each other, and somehow I was even more of an outcast. "

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" By the time I was 5, I was already an outcast. It was the early 1960s, and I was part of the only Jewish family in a decidedly Christian suburb of Waltham, Mass. "

Caroline Leavitt

Family

Time

Only

" Literature can allow us to experience the best side of humankind, where instead of giving up, we struggle desperately in the ruins for love, connection and hope. "

" A product name has to be specific. You know that Tasty Soup is tasty - that Hot Chips will burn off the roof of your mouth. "

" I write about what haunts me, and I write the books I myself am dying to read. I love it. I can't think of anything I'd rather do. "

" I had a writing professor at Brandeis who told me I'd never make it - and when I sold my first novel a few years later, I sent him a copy! "

Caroline Leavitt

Him

Years

" I was a bookworm who aced every test - until third grade, when my teacher handed out a pop quiz about Jesus and the Apostles. "

" I absolutely want and prize and love and revere every single media review I get, but if I got 50 reviews from major newspapers and one review from Amazon, I still would feel a little weird: 'What's going on? Why aren't people responding?' "

" All writers know how important a good title is. It's the first thing readers see, along with a knock-your-socks-off cover - a seductive 'come hither' for the story within. "

" L.A. is a place people come to for all sorts of reasons, often to reinvent themselves, and that fascinates me. "

Caroline Leavitt

Place

People

" I'm big on story structure. I studied with John Truby, who mapped out story by means of moral wants and needs, and that's what I do. Hey, so does John Irving. "

" I tell myself that some names can be mistakes, like Mxyplyzyk, a store in New York that lost customers because few could spell its name to look up the address. I tell myself that lots of writers agonize over titles, and often get them wrong at first. "

" People love stories. They need stories. "

" I'm a big believer in quantum physics, which says that the universe is more incredible and mysterious than any of us can imagine, which is my way of saying, 'Anything is possible, including angels.' "

" I think I became a writer because of my love of stories and an inability to stop asking, 'What if?' "

" I love real books, paper books, but I also love buying online, and I think that people are more willing to take a chance to read something if it's cheaper - sometimes books on the Kindle are $6. A hardback book is $25. For $25, it better be a really great book. Or you're going to be mad. "

" I love rewriting because that is where and how you discover the story. It's like you have this skeleton, and you get to put flesh on it and hair and clothes and really wonderful jewelry. "

" Is there nothing the prodigiously talented Ann Patchett can't do? She's channeled the world of opera, Boston politics, magic, unwed motherhood, and race relations, creating scenarios so indelible, you swear they are right outside your door. "

" A lot of people hurl themselves into relationships to lose themselves, but I think the best relationships help us to be more ourselves, to bring forth our best selves. "

" Writing is really hard, and it's really a skill. "

" A title means marketing. It means that company's coming soon, and you'd better get out the Christmas lights so they don't miss your house. "

" I had always known that I was Jewish - we celebrated the holidays, we went to a synagogue - but I had never known that I was supposed to feel ashamed about it. "

" The dead can't change, but you can. "

" My dirty little secret is I don't drive at all, though I have my license and I renew it every five years. I'm phobic. I keep worrying if I drive, I'll end up killing someone. I hoped that by writing about a car crash, I might understand and heal this phobia, but I didn't! I'm still phobic. "

Caroline Leavitt

End

Understand

" Everyone thinks that a new place or a new identity will jumpstart a new life. "