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" I remember when I was in graduate school and someone in workshop would say, 'I'm going to bring in a chapter of my novel.' The thought that someone could think they'd write a whole long thing... I could only see twelve pages ahead. But then I realized that if you could see twelve more after that, you can start. "

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" When I travel, I always take my Winsor & Newton watercolor kit, which is the size of a pack of cigarettes when folded up. I bought my first one in the 1980s. It was handy to bring on trips, and I packed it into a leather pouch along with a couple of brushes, a pencil, an eraser and paper. "

Susan Minot

Size

Always

Leather

" The idea that there is a family somewhere who functions is an odd concept. "

" People can have a variety of concerns at the same time. Even those undergoing grave or traumatic experiences will acknowledge the need for lightness or even entertainment. "

" Our concerns aren't always appropriate or morally elevated. "

" There are aspects of love that I once undervalued. Kindness. Having a sort of honor when love is on the table. "

" I love 'Anna Karenina.' It's in the top five books on my list. Tolstoy is unsurpassed in combining the grand with the trivial, that is, the small details which make up life. "

" Recording a scene with paint rather than film sinks you more deeply into your surroundings. You have to look a little harder and a little longer. And you end up with a memento. "

" The teenager's room is her cave. It is here she can meet herself, undistracted by the new hassles life is making for her. Here, she can reflect. "

" Painting keeps me occupied in those moments when travel can be aimless and even disorienting. Mainly it is a way to register at least some of the new impressions of a foreign place, when its thrilling barrage can sometimes overwhelm you. "

" Minimalism has a connotation of being reductive, and not in the best way. 'Brevetist' is a better term. I'm trying to be as concise as possible and still getting across to the reader. When information is delivered in that way, it is very satisfying to me. "

Susan Minot

Better

Best

" Success did change me. You don't want it to, but it does. "

Susan Minot

Change

Did

" David Gulden captures animals in all their wonder and intrigue, without glorifying or romanticizing them. He knows Kenya's wildlife intimately, and it shows in the depth of his images. He has an artist's eye, which delivers beauty and transport in every picture. "

" Preserving that privacy between a writer and the work is important. You have to shut out all those voices that have reacted to your work. "

" 'Monkeys' is made up of nine short stories that tell an overall story. 'Folly' is a series of vignettes all put together to tell a larger story. In 'Lust and Other Stories,' there are nine stories - three, three, three; the beginnings of love, the middles, and the afters. "

" Families are endlessly fascinating. We all have one, and they have a great impact on who we are and what we do - Freudian as that is. "

" Writing an adaptation is not so much a collaboration as it is a series of steps. You're basically creating a blueprint for something else. "

" Illness can make us behave in the most surprising ways. "

Susan Minot

Make

Illness

" I first travelled to Africa at the end of 1996 and was immediately captivated. I had planned on a three-week trip, and I ended up staying two months. "

" Recklessness is par for the course when you're 25. "

" In general, my own experience of writing an adaptation of 'Evening' gave me a chance to get into different parts of the book. "

Susan Minot

Chance

Experience

" A lot of readers want characters to behave in a responsible way, or they want to understand the characters' dilemma and act, in a way, on their behalf. "

" Most fiction comes from your experience. "

" I don't consider the first-world concerns any less important than the third-world ones. "

" When I look through my sketchbooks, they bring back moments that I would otherwise have completely forgotten. "

" I went to graduate school with zero expectation. I kind of backed into it. I wanted to go back to school because I felt gaps in my literary background. I studied mostly twentieth-century English literature in college, so I thought, 'Maybe I'll go back for my writing.' "

" Longing, for everyone, is always there, isn't it? More intense at some times than others. You get closer to less longing - an odd metaphoric phrasing, I realize - then, you are further and longing more than ever again. "

" So many bad things happen in this world because people don't know how to express things. "

" Between children and parents, there is a difficulty of seeing each other simply as people. "

" When I was in my teens and twenties, I could see friends expressing how radical they were, and I envied them, the way they lived, the way they dressed. Maybe there is a part of me that is reserved, even in rebellion. "

" Desire suppressed finds its way into other more surreal settings, into dreams. "