I’m a classic stress-eater, so I know a lot about how eating can become a way of hiding from what’s really wrong. I escape into food. But some people escape into books. Some into relationships that might not be good for them. The three main characters in ‘The Sugar Queen’ struggle with each of these comforts-turned-crutches. Sarah Addison Allen Read Quote
Magical realism is a blending of the unusual or supernatural into an otherwise ordinary setting. And, to me, this perfectly describes the South. ‘The Sugar Queen’ involves a lot of magical happenings, but in a very down-home Southern setting. It’s full of things that could almost be true. Sarah Addison Allen Read Quote
I’m a huge fan of Alice Hoffman, Fred Chappell and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Sarah Addison Allen Read Quote
At any given time I’m listening to the Cory Branan, Leonna Naess, Eve 6, the King’s Noyse, Sean Paul, Green Day, the BoDeans, Buddy Holly, Nowell Sing We Clear… the list goes on and on. But I rarely listen to music while I write. I start typing the lyrics. Sarah Addison Allen Read Quote
The thing most consistently on my desk as I write is a cat – a different one at different times of the day. I think I’m more a part of their ritual. Sarah Addison Allen Read Quote
My favorite books are the ones that make me smile for hours after reading them. I want that for my readers, for the sweetness to linger. Sort of like chocolate, but without the calories. Sarah Addison Allen Read Quote
I think my characters are more wish fulfillments than they are mirrors. They see things I don’t and live in a world I can only enter through words. Sarah Addison Allen Read Quote
Who I am, what I am, is the culmination of a lifetime of reading, a lifetime of stories. And there are still so many more books to read. I’m a work in progress. Sarah Addison Allen Read Quote
There’s an old hymn called ‘How Can I Keep from Singing?’ That’s what writing feels like to me. I have to write. It’s intrinsic to who I am. So it was a natural choice for me to try to pursue writing as a career. Truthfully, though, I still daydream about how fun it would be to ride on the back of a garbage truck. Sarah Addison Allen Read Quote
Don’t give up because of the dark days. Succeed in spite of them. The dark days make the bright days seem even brighter. So bright you can hardly stand it. Sarah Addison Allen Read Quote
