Children can be happy when their parents are miserable. But a parent is never happier than her unhappiest child. Laura Lippman More Quotes by Laura Lippman More Quotes From Laura Lippman I've gotten to do a lot of stuff, traveled, worked hard at my career. Laura Lippman traveled careers stuff But you were a goody-goody, you said.' 'Even goody-goodies think about such things. In fact, I would say that's what defines us. We're always thinking about the things we don't dare do, figuring out where the lines are drawn, so we can go right up to the edge of things, then plead innocence on the ground of a technicality. Laura Lippman lines facts thinking We become comfortable saying that there's nothing new, and then something like Malarky comes along, which is new and old and different and familiar, but ultimately itself, comfortable in its own skin, wise and smart and crazy-sexy or maybe sexy-crazy-well, you just have to read it to understand. It's a novel that sets its own course, sure and steady, even when it seems like it might be about to go over the edge of the world. Laura Lippman sexy crazy wise ...Baltimore. It's imperfect. Boy, is it imperfect. And there are parts of its past that make you wince. It's not all marble steps and waitresses calling you 'hon,' you know. Racial strife in the sixties, the riots during the Civil War. F. Scott Fitzgerald said it was civilized and gay, rotted and polite. The terms are slightly anachronistic now, but I think he was essentially right. Laura Lippman gay boys war how magnanimous was a gesture if one were constantly aware of its magnanimity? Laura Lippman magnanimous gestures ifs Whatever you want, at any moment, someone else is getting it. Whatever you have, someone else is longing for. Laura Lippman longing moments want stinginess seemed instinctive to him. Darwinian even. He hadn't gotten to his current size by sharing. Laura Lippman stinginess size selfishness As for music, my tastes are eclectic. Elvis Costello is my all-time favorite. I listen to a lot of jazz, primarily the great female vocalists, and I am very fond of the late cabaret singer Nancy Lamott. Laura Lippman female singers taste It must be nice to be so strong and to think it's because you're so good, that you live right and eat right, so you deserve your health and happiness. But there is such a thing as luck, and there's more bad luck than good in this world. Laura Lippman nice strong thinking it's smarter to be lucky than it's lucky to be smart. Laura Lippman smart lucky luck In fact, I think every book I've written has been inspired by a real event. Laura Lippman real book thinking I begin each book with a challenge to myself. Laura Lippman challenges book I like to see writers reach bigger and bigger audiences, and stand-alones have allowed some of them to do just that. Laura Lippman audience bigger I carry in my datebook a piece of paper that my mother copied out for me, from the 1840 Census. Hardy Callaway Culver of Hancock County, Georgia, had 42 slaves, 31 "employed in agriculture." Culver was my great-great-great grandfather. I carry this piece of paper with me every day because I don't want to forget. I don't know what to do with the information, but I don't want to forget it. Laura Lippman agriculture grandfather mother I'm for anything that lets writers stretch, in or out of their series. Laura Lippman series Edward Eager wrote a series of children's books that are in danger of being forgotten. But they're divine: stories about ordinary kids who stumble on magical things - a coin, a lake, a book, a thyme garden, a well. The magic changes them, they try to change the magic, the magic moves on. Laura Lippman magic change book children I sometimes allow people to infer that I'm much less successful than I am. Laura Lippman i-am successful sometimes people I was part of a generation where kids had a lot of freedom and aimless downtime. I had no scheduled after-school activities. As long as you came home for dinner, everything was fine. Laura Lippman you dinner freedom home My reading life is like an airport where a bunch of planes circle in a holding pattern, then - boom, boom, boom - several come in for a landing. Laura Lippman airport circle reading life In my newspaper days, your endings could be literally sliced off in the composing room, so it was dangerous to get attached to them. Yet I think this has made me work harder on endings in fiction. Laura Lippman think me dangerous work
