Elizabeth Berg

Writers have a reputation for being distracted. That's because writers are distracted. They are always tuned into that other voice, the one in their head that rarely turns off. ”

I love to listen to people talk, especially when they're being really honest and they're not trying to sound any particular way. ”

Traditions are the inventions of people who mean to routinely put love and comfort and meaning into their lives and in the lives of those they live with. ”

Really, my sacred place is my study where there are books that I love and things that people have given me. ”

When I look at my own work, I see love, loss, and loneliness. Part of it might be that I was an army brat. I moved around all the time. There was a sense of nothing being permanent. ”

Sometimes the best reading comes just by accident. Someone talks about a book, or you're just wandering the stacks in the library, and you find a book that you love. ”

I love libraries, as anyone who has a brain does. ”

I've been to Iowa many times before. You have to love Iowa, or you're not an American. ”

Never try to copy other writers, and never try to have a formula. It has to come from your heart and soul. ”

Everybody knows the mother-daughter relationship is one of the most complex there is. ”