Quotes from Maria Semple

On Jan. 1, 2012, I resolved to not buy anything from Amazon for a year.

My father was a screenwriter, and I kind of grew up in that world.

My first novel didn't sell well. It was really painful and humiliating and shocking to me.

'Mad About You' fit my sensibility the most of any show that I worked on, and as a result, it was really fun. It felt like a very natural fit.

I learned that comedy is born out of strong characters. I won't begin writing a character until I have a clear take on them.

On my walks, that's when the good ideas come. The kind of hard, gritty work is when you're sitting at the computer and it's kind of intense and you're kind of in super control of it - the walks are when you let go. That's when the really big breakthroughs come in, and it's very strange.

My summer reading suggestion: Pick a really famous, really long novel.

Even when I was writing 'Where'd You Go, Bernadette,' I started to appreciate Seattle's many charms.

I suppose I could admire all these slow Seattle drivers for their safety-mindedness, consideration for others, and peace of mind. Instead, I'm a fury of annoyance.

When you need a good laugh, do you reach for a book? I don't. I expect books to move me deeply and submerge me in another reality. So when a novel makes me roar with laughter, it's always a delightful surprise.

Much of the time in the writer's room is spent working on story, and I was always challenging myself to make it more interesting, tighter and more surprising: to come at it sideways in a way that the audience wasn't expecting.

'Where'd You Go, Bernadette' was surprisingly easy and fun to write because I was feeling such strong emotions.

I think one of the good things about writing novels is that you always start from scratch.

I'll see something awful on the street and I'll come home and say to my boyfriend, "I just saw the funniest thing on the street." It's a stance. It's the way I was born, or the way I was damaged.

Ruthless concern with story is what I learned in television.

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!

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.

This is Seattle. We're supposed to have superior taste.

I attended TED in 2007 and 2008, the last two years the conference was held in Monterey.

When you become a parent, that's a whole new level of life intruding. Nobody tells you how boring and time-sucking it's going to be! Or how the responsibility feels like an airbag going off in your life.

When I wrote for TV, I was always thinking in terms of character and story. After fifteen years, it became hard-wired in me.

The sooner you learn it's on you to make life interesting, the better off you'll be.

I love epistolary novels and became wildly excited when the form presented itself to me.

I always write authors after I read their books. I've been doing it for years. I write a formal letter and send it to them in care of their agent. My mother always taught us to write thank you notes, and if an author puts themselves out there, they like to hear that their book connected with someone.