I wondered about the science of storms and how sometimes it seemed that a storm wanted to break the world and how the world refused to break. Benjamin Alire Saenz More Quotes by Benjamin Alire Saenz More Quotes From Benjamin Alire Saenz Absent parents aren't abusive per se. They're neglectful. They love in a very imperfect way. There are parents like that, and they do love their daughters and sons, but they're not parents in the way that we might think of it. Benjamin Alire Saenz daughter son thinking We have this huge discourse on family in this country, but no one deconstructs it the same way. People talk about "the American family." The right wing has this thing - Focus on the Family. What the hell is that? I don't want to just discuss the issues - I want family to be a real part of the character of the novels I write, and I don't like to write things that feel like issue books. Benjamin Alire Saenz real country book It's a complex thing when you're writing a novel, because so much of it is conscious and planned and deliberate, and so much of it is not, and it has to be a dance between the conscious and the unconscious. I bring my best instincts to my work. For instance - and I come by this naturally, or I think I do - I am a very good judge of character. Benjamin Alire Saenz writing character thinking But love was always something heavy for me. Something I had to carry. Benjamin Alire Saenz heavy