Christina Baker Kline Quotes
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Radiation is relentless: my protocol is five days a week, 33 sessions altogether.
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Having the book-club army embrace you is a gift that keeps giving for years.
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I was stunned to learn that more than 200,000 abandoned, neglected, or orphaned children had been sent from the East Coast to the Midwest on trains between 1854 and 1929.
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The most surprising thing, honestly, is that so few Americans know about the orphan trains. I was also surprised at the resilience and fortitude of the riders I met, their pragmatism and grace. I don't know whether this is a Midwestern trait or simply a human one.
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When I start a new novel and find myself diverted by domestic activities, many of which I genuinely enjoy, I panic that I will never write another word.
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Without even thinking about it, my son uses technology in almost everything he does, large and small.
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I will not serve lunch to anyone in the middle of a workday. I rarely rearrange my furniture or cabinets; once I find a drawer for something, it stays there. I don't garden. And I don't knit.
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My parents are a bedrock. And I have three complex, strong, and funny sisters who inspire and sustain me.
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I often work and write in coffee shops, observing the baristas and eavesdropping on interesting conversations.
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It's hard selling books in general: companies are merging, editors being laid off, bricks-and-mortar bookstores closing, large chain bookstores squeezing out independents, and online retailers squeezing out chain bookstores.
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Many people, for many reasons, feel rootless - but orphans and abandoned or abused children have particular cause.
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For a few years, skeins of yarn piled up in baskets around the house. There weren't enough humans in my mother's orbit to wear all the scarves and sweaters and hats she knitted. And then, as suddenly as she started, she lost interest, leaving needles still entwined in half-finished fragments.
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I don't believe in karma.
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I have three sons, as different from each other as any three humans could be but connected by their shared love of Guitar Hero. I'm lucky to be married to a man I can call my soulmate without any irony whatsoever.
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I don't think that trauma is an illusion; there is no question in my mind that circumstances beyond our control can shape and define us. But ultimately, we make choices about letting ourselves be defined by our pasts.
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Book clubs, both online and in person, have become a large percentage of the reading public, and many of them won't consider reading books in hardcover.
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I like meeting and connecting with readers.
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When you can type a few words into a search engine and land on your topic - or when you can scan a Shakespeare play for specific words or symbols - what opportunities might you miss to expand your thinking in unexpected ways?
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You have to try to take what life throws at you with grace and equanimity.
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With a hardcover, you get two chances, a year apart, for the book to make an impact - often with a new cover featuring artfully crafted snippets of reviews, a new marketing campaign and maybe even a new publisher.
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As a novelist, I have always been interested in how people come to terms with difficult, life-altering events.
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For years I'd understood that publishing in paperback was the kiss of death.
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There's no question that my son is better prepared for college than I was. He manages his time better, is more efficient and more directed, and spends less time in lines and more time doing exactly what he sets out to do.
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Words are both my vocation and my avocation - reading, writing, editing, teaching.