I think of myself as a realistic writer, not a creator of soap opera or melodrama. Joyce Maynard More Quotes by Joyce Maynard More Quotes From Joyce Maynard No, I said. I didn't remember that. There was so much to remember, sometimes the best thing was to forget. Joyce Maynard forgetremembersometimes It's a great thing when a man knows how to dance, she said. When a man can dance, the world is his oyster." Adele, Henry's Mother Joyce Maynard oystersmothermen You lay your hand against his skin and just rib his back. Blow into his ear. Press that baby up against your own skin and walk outside with him, where the night air will sourround him, and moonlight fall on his face. Whistle, maybe. Dance. Hum. Pray. (how to calm a crying baby) Joyce Maynard babynightfall The real drug, I came to believe, was love. Joyce Maynard drugrealbelieve There is a theme that runs through my work, and that is: the toxic property of keeping secrets. Joyce Maynard keeping-secretstoxicrunning The big dramas that fascinate me are the quiet ones that happen behind closed doors in so-called ordinary families. Joyce Maynard ordinarydoorsdrama As for me, I've chosen to follow a simple course: Come clean. And wherever possible, live your life in a way that won't leave you tempted to lie. Failing that, I'd rather be disliked for who I truly am than loved for who I am not. So, I tell my story. I write it down. I even publish it. Sometimes this is a humbling experience. Sometimes it's embarrassing. But I haul around no terrible secrets. Joyce Maynard simplewritinglying Growing up in the fifties and sixties, I can only remember knowing one child, ever, whose parents got a divorce, and hardly any whose mother "worked" at anything besides raising her children. Joyce Maynard growing-upmotherchildren I had known there had been a serial killer on Mount Tamalpais, and it felt so incongruous in such a beautiful, peaceful spot. Joyce Maynard serial-killerpeacefulbeautiful I compromised my ability to tell my story, at the most basic level. Joyce Maynard abilitylevelsstories More than any other setting - more than battlefields or boardrooms or a spaceship headed for intergalactic travel - I'll put my money on the family to provide an endless source of comedy, tragedy and intrigue. Joyce Maynard comedysourcetragedy In the event of an oxygen shortage on airplanes, mothers of young children are always reminded to put on their own oxygen mask first, to better assist the children with theirs. The same tactic is necessary on terra firma. There's no way of sustaining our children if we don't first rescue ourselves. I don't call that selfish behavior. I call it love. Joyce Maynard selfishmotherchildren Not only did I avoid speaking of Salinger; I resisted thinking about him. I did not reread his letters to me. The experience had been too painful. Joyce Maynard painlettersthinking I have no doubt that over the years my children will find plenty of things about me to criticize. But something tells me that twenty years from now not one of them will sit on some therapist's couch complaining because their mother didn't spend enough time vacuuming up glitter. Joyce Maynard motherchildrenyears The vehemence with which certain critics have chosen not simply to criticize what I've written, but to challenge my writing this story at all, speaks of what the book is about: fear of disapproval. Joyce Maynard challengeswritingbook Women writers have been told, forever, that our stories were not valuable. Not as valuable as men's stories about wars, business, power. Joyce Maynard womenbusinesspowermen You write about what you know, and you write about what you want to know. Joyce Maynard writeknowyouwant I wonder what it is that the people who criticize me for telling this story truly object to: is it that I have dared to tell the story? Or that the story turns out not to be the one they wanted to hear? Joyce Maynard storymewonderpeople It is not the task of a reader to please her subjects. Joyce Maynard taskherpleasesubjects
