“Whatever we know as children, this is the world, eaten whole and without question.” — Debra Dean Childhood Copy Share Image
Whatever one may say about the perils of workshops, they help writers internalize an awareness of audience. — Debra Dean Audience Copy Share Image
“Whatever is eating her brain consumes only the fresher memories, the unripe moments” — Debra Dean Copy Share Image
“You're unusual. That's better than popular if you have some courage.” — Debra Dean Courage Copy Share Image
“What is heartbreaking is that there is still beauty in the world.” — Debra Dean Beauty Copy Share Image
As a writer, the ideal job is the one that allows you time and mental space away from it. Teaching seemed to… — Debra Dean Cautionary tales Copy Share Image
I loved short stories, and they were all I wanted to write. I love the compression of them and the exactitude needed… — Debra Dean Copy Share Image
“Once she had thought that she might discover some key to her mother if only she could get her likeness right, but… — Debra Dean Bond Copy Share Image
“He nods solemnly and repeats the stock response of the Housing Committee whenever they address the perpetual shortage of apartments in Leningrad.… — Debra Dean Investing Copy Share Image
Unless you're Stephen King or Joyce Carol Oates, no one's going to recognize you on the street, and you're promoting your book,… — Debra Dean Book Copy Share Image
I tell my students, if you're interested in marine biology or llama farming, follow that string. Yes, it will probably take you… — Debra Dean Age Copy Share Image
With the historical fictions, I was already doing so much research, and so much of the stories was anchored by historical truth… — Debra Dean Dramatic Copy Share Image
Once I had started, I discovered the secret pleasure of writing a novel. It's such an immersive, deep commitment. With short stories,… — Debra Dean Books Copy Share Image
If anything, I've found nonfiction a little easier. You don't have to make anything up. Of course, that's the inherent difficulty as… — Debra Dean Copy Share Image
When I left the theatre and turned to writing, one of the big pulls was that, unlike the theatre, I didn't have… — Debra Dean Art Copy Share Image
I kept writing short stories and sending out my manuscript, and it kept coming back like a bad penny. It was rejected… — Debra Dean Copy Share Image
“She is leaving him, not all at once, which would be painful enough, but in a wrenching succession of separations. One moment… — Debra Dean Aging Copy Share Image
One of the nice things about moving from acting to writing is that your work can be in the public eye without… — Debra Dean Acting Copy Share Image
I haven't written anything yet that makes me think, This is it! and I don't imagine I ever will. I don't know… — Debra Dean Dreams Copy Share Image
I always think, OK, this is good, but I'll do it better next time. "And so we beat on, boats against the… — Debra Dean Copy Share Image
I just can't fathom tweeting, and I'd rather spend my time writing a book than a blog, but I rather grudgingly agreed… — Debra Dean Blogs Copy Share Image
“How may one describe enchantment? As he sang, his countenance softened, and without benefit of costume or any other artifice of the… — Debra Dean Enchantment Copy Share Image
“They don't teach this in school anymore?' Anya asks and clucks in dismay. 'When I was a girl, we made memory palaces… — Debra Dean Education Copy Share Image
“Before you either turn away in disgust or wink knowingly at one another, you should know that the artist insists that this… — Debra Dean Art Copy Share Image
I worked every waking minute, nights and weekends, in order to make enough money to buy those summers off, and even then… — Debra Dean Copy Share Image
Along the way, I've worked as a waitress, I've done phone surveys, and worked as a receptionist, and for the last twenty… — Debra Dean Actor Copy Share Image
That requires quite an imaginative leap because it's hard for me to imagine that my biography would be of much interest to… — Debra Dean Copy Share Image
I figured that to be a writer I would need to have been born in the nineteenth century, be British, or have… — Debra Dean Acting Copy Share Image
Peculiar as I was, and remain, I was trained to be practical. I'm still amazed at the radical temerity of my friends,… — Debra Dean Copy Share Image
Practicality continues to be a challenge for me - it's at odds with being an artist. I actually had a career on… — Debra Dean Copy Share Image
If you have some other profession that allows you your evenings or weekends, terrific, stick with that. Having a profession other than… — Debra Dean Copy Share Image
Before I got my present job, I spent many years teaching writing part-time, so-called, at community colleges and universities. It's academia's version… — Debra Dean Academia Copy Share Image
“is eating her brain consumes only the fresher memories, the unripe moments. Her distant past is preserved, better than preserved. Moments that… — Debra Dean Copy Share Image
If you had told me twenty years ago that I would write a novel set in Russia, much less two, I simply… — Debra Dean Books Copy Share Image
“Each day, the world is made fresh again, holy, and she takes it in, in all its raw intensity, like a young… — Debra Dean Children Copy Share Image
The trajectory of my writing has moved further and further away from autobiography. My first stories in Confessions of a Falling Woman… — Debra Dean Actors Copy Share Image
I think I was also afraid of the novel. I write line by line, proceeding at snail's pace, rewriting as I go… — Debra Dean Advice Copy Share Image
