Abi Mott

“No, no, we are definitely writ on water. Or cognac -- if we've any luck at all.”
― Jess Walter

“I'm writing this in the middle of the day: the sun shines gold through the leaves of late August.

Most of these stories, however, were written after midnight, when the world was quiet and there was no-one left to talk to.”
― Neil Gaiman, Neil Gaiman's Midnight Days

“I suppose I could spend time theorizing how it is that people are not bad to each other, but that’s really not the point. The point is that in almost every instance of our lives, our social lives, we are, if we pay attention, in the midst of an almost constant, if subtle, caretaking. Holding open doors. Offering elbows at crosswalks. Letting someone else go first. Helping with the heavy bags. Reaching what’s too high, or what’s been dropped. Pulling someone back to their feet. Stopping at the car wreck, at the struck dog. The alternating merge, also known as the zipper. This caretaking is our default mode and it’s always a lie that convinces us to act or believe otherwise. Always.”
― Ross Gay, The Book of Delights: Essays

“I turn to contemporary fiction seeking a shared awareness with the writer of the cultural moment we both occupy, its peculiar challenges.”
― Jennifer Egan, The Best American Short Stories 2014