All my life, I had this idea that if I could unravel the mystery that was my mother, then I could help save her. But it didn't really work. We were close, but she struggled with mental illness and alcoholism, and it was rough at times. Jennifer McMahon More Quotes by Jennifer McMahon More Quotes From Jennifer McMahon Sometimes what a person needs most is to be forgiven. Jennifer McMahon forgiveness sometimes needs I've lived here ... my whole life. It's where I lost all my baby teeth. Where tiny hamster, gerbil, and bird skeletons lie in rotted-out cardboard coffins beneath the oak tree in our backyard. Also where, if some future archaeologist goes digging, they'll find the remains of a plush toy: a gray terrier named Toto I buried after the accident. Jennifer McMahon skeletons baby lying Storytelling wasn't about making things up. It was more like inviting the stories to come through her, let themselves be told. Jennifer McMahon inviting storytelling stories Ain't no point worrying about what's been or what's gonna be. You just gotta do your best right now. And trust everyone else is doing the same. Jennifer McMahon be-you right-now worry ...they were exactly what the other needed; the missing piece that made everything else magically click into place. Jennifer McMahon clicks pieces missing The world was full of dangers now that she was pregnant: mercury in tuna, hot tubs, beer, secondhand smoke, over-the-counter medicine. Not to mention crazy baby-abducting fairy kings. Jennifer McMahon crazy kings baby All great heroes have a flaw. It's one of the things that makes them heroes. Jennifer McMahon great-hero flaws hero What if things happened to you—special, magic things—because you’d been preparing for them? Jennifer McMahon what-if magic special If snow melts down to water, does it still remember being snow? Jennifer McMahon doe snow water I believed then - in a deep, easy way that is impossible for me as an adult - that there was more to this world than meets the eye. Trees had spirits; the wind spoke. If you followed a toad or a raven deep into the heart of the forest, they were sure to lead you to something magical. Jennifer McMahon me you heart world I found many treasures in the woods over the years: shotgun shells, empty Colt 45 bottles, old railroad spikes, orange and black beetles eating a dead mouse, pebbles that looked just like teeth, old stone walls and cellar holes, a rusted out frying pan, the skull of a cat. Jennifer McMahon dead stone black eating I think we all have a kind of dark side, and that's what keeps life - and characters - interesting. That's one of the things that I'm drawn to write about again and again, the secrets we keep and how they shape us. Jennifer McMahon think dark-side dark life I think of setting as almost a character of its own, influencing the other characters in ways they're not even aware of. So much of the success of a good ghost story rides on creating a creepy atmosphere; details of the landscape itself can help create a sense of dread. Jennifer McMahon good think success character Over the years, I have been a house painter, farm worker, paste-up artist, Easter Bunny, pizza delivery person, homeless shelter staff member, and counselor for adults and kids with mental illness - I quit my last real job in 2000 to work on writing full-time. Jennifer McMahon job homeless pizza work I absolutely love writing about the things that scare me, the things that keep me up at night. I don't quite know why. Perhaps because so many things do scare me, and this is my subconscious way of trying to exercise some control over things that go bump in the night! Jennifer McMahon me love night way At the heart of every story is conflict - whether external or internal, make it a good one, and remember that this problem is going to shape your character, leaving her forever changed. Jennifer McMahon good heart remember character I have a friend who calls me the queen of the nightmares because I've always had really bad nightmares. I keep a notebook by the side of my bed, so I'll wake up in the night from a bad dream, and my heart's pounding, and I'm really scared, but I write it down, and sometimes I get ideas for books that way. Jennifer McMahon queen me heart night Some people say, 'Write what you know.' My thing is, 'Write what scares you.' Jennifer McMahon some-people know you people Although in my life the level of loss has never reached the extremes it does in 'The Winter People,' I certainly can identify with being both a daughter longing for her mother and being a mother who is almost scared by the intensity of her love for her daughter. Jennifer McMahon mother winter love life If there was a way to bring someone back, would you do it, no matter what the consequences might be? I know that for me, my logical mind says, 'Of course not!' But the truth is, when you lose someone who is so close to you, it's as if they are a part of you; there's always one more thing to say, one more moment you wish you'd had. Jennifer McMahon me moment you truth
