Laura

“I was bored, but was I “the Luidaeg has a problem for me” levels of bored?”
― Seanan McGuire, Silver and Lead

“Lydia, our daughter, was born a month before I began The Mountain in the Sea. She was four while Where the Axe Is Buried was being written. She has completely changed my outlook on life. My concern for her future is the main driving force behind this book’s creation, and behind all of my writing. I want her to live in a better world than the present one—a world where authoritarian government is the rarest aberration, and the future is something her generation thinks of with excitement and optimism, not dread.”
― Ray Nayler, Where the Axe Is Buried

“When I tell my undergraduates that I once advised Barack Obama, they’re somewhat impressed. Labor secretary to Bill Clinton? Their eyes begin to glaze over. Worked for Jimmy Carter? Not particularly interested. Interned for Bobby Kennedy? Campaigned for Eugene McCarthy? They look puzzled, as if I’ve entered the misty expanses of ancient history. Sometimes I follow this by telling them I started my career as an assistant to Abraham Lincoln. This used to elicit a laugh. I’m beginning to fear it won’t much longer. But every day I consider myself blessed for having the great good fortune to spend most of my time with these young people. They inspire me. They push me. They make me laugh. They help me play the long game. They’re going to inherit the mess my generation has bequeathed them. Instead of being bitter or angry, they have all sorts of ideas for how to clean it up, fix it, make the world better. They have the energy and determination to succeed. They keep me optimistic and sane. They make me hopeful that the common good can be resurrected.”
― Robert B. Reich, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America

“She thought if she could get us out of China, we'd be safe.
But she couldn't outrun her mental illness. It was waiting to devour us.
She always was a drowning woman trying desperately to throw me on the shore so I would not drown with her.”
― Tessa Hulls, Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir