It's a happy life, but someone is missing. It's a happy life, and someone is missing. Elizabeth McCracken More Quotes by Elizabeth McCracken More Quotes From Elizabeth McCracken Humor reminds you, when you're flattened by sorrow, that you're still human. Elizabeth McCracken human you sorrow humor It's hard to know which made me more aware of the impossibility of protecting children - having a child die or having had two live. Elizabeth McCracken die child me children Ordinarily, I'd claim that I'd never write directly about my children, but the opening conversation of 'Peter Elroy' is a verbatim conversation that my children had that I just loved: morbid, funny, passionate, and obsessed with the truth of things - all natural qualities of children that I'd like my work to contain. Elizabeth McCracken truth work funny children You believe in God or statistics or the way your narrative differs from other people. Elizabeth McCracken you god believe people Sadness was something I was thinking about in my life outside of writing, so it wormed itself into whatever I wrote. Elizabeth McCracken my-life sadness life thinking I have a memory of my fourth-grade self wanting to be the first woman president of the United States, but I think that has a lot more to do with my love of world records and reference books than a love of serving my country. Elizabeth McCracken woman memory self love I've always been absolutely appalling about the future, but I sort of think that was my childhood religion. We were future deniers. You did your best in the present, which was all around you. Elizabeth McCracken best you future childhood I feel like I don't understand time in novels, really. I bumble forward, is all. Elizabeth McCracken i-feel-like feel understand time When I tell people there are three stories in 'Thunderstruck' that were from the same wrecked novel, they want to guess what they are. Nobody has. There are no characters or timelines in common. They're structured very differently. A good novel wouldn't have pulled apart so easily. Elizabeth McCracken nobody good want people Short fiction is like low relief. And if your story has no humor in it, then you're trying to look at something in the pitch dark. With the light of humor, it throws what you're writing into relief so that you can actually see it. Elizabeth McCracken look you humor light I can't imagine not joking even at the worst of times. And for me, it's sort of automatic. Elizabeth McCracken joking me worst imagine I sort of don't believe in closure. In the sense that it doesn't make me feel better to think that something is over. Elizabeth McCracken feel think me believe There are two MFA programs here at the University of Texas, and I read on the jury of both of them. And it's amazing to me how many really talented young writers seem to fear humor. Elizabeth McCracken amazing me humor fear I am not a therapy person, but I understand what therapy does. It's a way of translating dark thoughts into something manageable. Elizabeth McCracken thoughts i-am dark way
