“Writing New People I was thinking a lot about the era that I came of age - the 90's. Brooklyn, in particular, this moment when I lived there. The sense of possibility. I was also trying to find a way to write about Jonestown. I had read about it a lot and I had the sense that the story could really start to drive one over the edge.” PeopleThinkingWritingTryingMomentsAgePossibilityOver The Edge Author:Danzy Senna
“I wrote the first draft of the New People quickly but it had been percolating a lot longer. It's a hard question to answer because I'd been working on another novel for years and when I gave up on that, this one came very easily. But I think the work had been going on a lot longer than the actual writing.” PeopleThinkingWritingNovelGave Up Author:Danzy Senna
“I don't like stories that are too neat and too resolved. I think resolutions can be deadening for the reader.” ThinkingResolutionNeat Author:Danzy Senna
“I think cults never stop being interesting and I'm intrigued by how we all do a tiny bit of submitting to a larger group - and how they can sneak up on you.” ThinkingInterestingCultIntriguedSneak Author:Danzy Senna
“I guess the subject of race is so natural to me I never think of it as hefty. It's something I talk about and joke about and discuss with my loved ones every day of my life.” ThinkingNaturalJokesLoved Ones Author:Danzy Senna
“I'm not trying to be coy, but I think everyone notices these things like skin color but some people are more aware that they are noticing them than others, maybe. If that makes sense.” PeopleThinkingTryingSkinsMake SenseNoticing Author:Danzy Senna
“I think about some of the novels I love - The Stranger, Disgrace, Quicksand and Passing, Giovanni's Room, The Talented Mr. Ripley. I think I'm more intrigued by characters who don't do the right thing and where we are allowed to identify with their shame/dishonesty/envy... whatever.” ThinkingCharacterNovelShameStrangerEnvyRight ThingDisgraceDishonestyIntriguedQuicksand Author:Danzy Senna
“I find myself speaking through the other characters, putting ideas in their voices and heads. Writing almost becomes a splitting of myself into multiple personalities. But I don't write to make an argument on behalf of any of the characters, or to prove anything about a character. I think that's important that I be serving the story first and not my own point of view.” ThinkingWritingImportantCharacterPersonalityProveArgumentPoint Of ViewMultipleMultiple Personalities Author:Danzy Senna
“It’s funny. When you leave your home and wander really far, you always think, ‘I want to go home.’ But then you come home, and of course it’s not the same. You can’t live with it, you can’t live away from it. And it seems like from then on there’s always this yearning for some place that doesn’t exist. I felt that. Still do. I’m never completely at home anywhere.” ThinkingWantStillsHomeSeemsCoursesFeltWanderComing HomeYearning Book:From Caucasia, with Love Source: From Caucasia, with Love
