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Jorge Luis Borges wrote a poem when he was in his 80s about one day writing the book that would justify him. This was long after he had become one of the great masters, a writer everyone looks up to and reveres. As artists, I don't think we ever see ourselves as done. We always think we're at the beginning . . .

Theodora Goss

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Theodora Goss
Age: 56
Born: 1968
Born: September 30
Novelist
Writer
Buda Pest
Would
Ever
Wrote
Think
Book
Artists
Thinking
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Masters
Done
Beginning
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Luis
Writing
Everyone
Borges
Long
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Justify
Always
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Poem

More quotes by Theodora Goss

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Understanding what is going on in the world today inspires me in a negative sense because there's so much about it that I don't like - political stupidity, environmental degradation, etc. And that makes me want to change it, to make a difference in the world.
Theodora Goss
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I would tell myself to get more sleep! Believe it or not, I wrote the book while finishing my PhD in English literature. It was wonderful to get away from doing literary scholarship by writing this mythical love story. I think so much of my own love for books and scholarship comes through in The Thorn and the Blossom.
Theodora Goss
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Writing is an art like other arts. Dancers don't dance every once in a while. Musicians don't stop practicing. They are dedicated to what they do.
Theodora Goss
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I'm writinng my first full-length novel, which is based on a novella I wrote called The Mad Scientist's Daughter. I'm having a wonderful time with it, but of course it's presenting challenges as well. Stories always do, no matter what they are.
Theodora Goss
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Nature inspires me continually. Today, I can look out my window and see the entire world covered with snow. It's like Narnia under the White Witch.
Theodora Goss
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I'm working on a poetry collection for Papaveria Press . It fills me with trepidation - poetry is something I'm much more self-conscious about than prose.
Theodora Goss
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When we tell stories about things that are important - love, fear, beauty - we change the way people think about the world. Writers are, or should be, truth-tellers even when the stories themselves are fantasy.
Theodora Goss
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I talked on my blog recently about uncommon sense. Common sense is called common because it reflects cultural consensus. It's common sense to get a good job and save for retirement. But I think we all also have an uncommon sense, an individual voice that tells us what we're meant to do.
Theodora Goss
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I think part of my purpose in this life is to talk about magic, and to make it.
Theodora Goss
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The book itself [The Thorn and The Blossom] is bound accordion-style: it has no spine, so it can open in either direction, and it's in a slipcase.
Theodora Goss
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If you look at the natural world, really look at it, it's always magical.
Theodora Goss
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I actually pushed the boundaries on how long a book like this [The Thorn and the Blossom] can be. The original plan called for two 7,500 word stories, and I turned in two 10,000 word stories.
Theodora Goss
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Delia Sherman once told me that you never learn to write a story. You only learn to write the story you are currently writing. You have to learn how to write the next story all over again. And she's absolutely right.
Theodora Goss
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I worry very much that people won't like it, or will think it's simply silly. But I have a post-it note above my desk that says What would you do if you weren't afraid? And if I weren't afraid, I would do a poetry collection.
Theodora Goss
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That sort of effort has to come not only from the writer but also from a really innovative publisher like Quirk.
Theodora Goss
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The appeal of writing a romance was that I'd never written one before the The Thorn and The Blossom.
Theodora Goss
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Of course, with Papaveria Press, you know the book itself is going to be beautiful.
Theodora Goss
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What writers do - everything comes from inside, from experiences of the world that we have digested. And then we turn it into silk, or stories.
Theodora Goss
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If you believe you have a voice and something to say, chances are you do, and the world needs you to do whatever you're drawn to do. So you should do it.
Theodora Goss
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I put that part of myself into both Brendan and Evelyn [from The Thorn and the Blossom] - as well as some of my own anxieties about the academic life!
Theodora Goss