When I graduated high school, I was one of many English-majors-to-be traveling through Europe with a copy of 'Let's Go Europe' in one hand, 'Anna Karenina' in the other, a Eurail pass for a bookmark. Maria Semple annabookmarkcopy Change image and share on social
Novels demand a certain complexity of narrative and scope, so it's necessary for the characters to change. Maria Semple changecharactercomplexity Change image and share on social
'Where'd You Go, Bernadette' was surprisingly easy and fun to write because I was feeling such strong emotions. Maria Semple bernadetteeasyemotion Change image and share on social
I think that's the most important job of a novelist - to bring authority to their writing. Maria Semple authoritybringimportant Change image and share on social
After decades spent in rewrite rooms surrounded by other shouting writers, I discovered that I work best alone. I like being in charge of my time, working out the problems according to my own rhythms and being able to nap. That's a big one, the napping on demand! Maria Semple bigchargedecade share on social
My summer reading suggestion: Pick a really famous, really long novel. Maria Semple famouslongpick Change image and share on social
I attended TED in 2007 and 2008, the last two years the conference was held in Monterey. Maria Semple attendconferencehold Change image and share on social
I don't mind finding these ugly sides to my personality and exaggerating them because that's something you can write towards. Maria Semple exaggeratefindmind Change image and share on social
When I came back from my first TED, very few people knew what it was. But around the time I was sitting down to write 'Where'd You Go, Bernadette,' in 2010, TED was exploding. Maria Semple backbernadetteexplode Change image and share on social
My talent isn't so much in traditional research as in finding really smart people and badgering them with questions. Maria Semple badgerfindpeople Change image and share on social
