It's terrifying to think about all things that were awful for you. But for me, sharing all of them was so satisfying, because people read them and get to go, "Oh, okay, I don't have to feel so shitty about that," or maybe even, "Why was I feeling so shitty about that? I should own that and learn from that." Those are the sorts of stories I want to tell.
Kelly OxfordCanadians always make jokes about the arrogant American, but the longer I'm here, the more I realize, "Oh, it isn't that they're arrogant, it's just the way that their country is set up you really have to protect yourself and you really have to look after yourself, and with that comes the mentality of 'I'm doing my thing here, if you don't like it, get over it.'"
Kelly OxfordI find a lot of people struggling in their lives because they feel like it was expected they do a certain thing or act a certain way and not follow what their gut is telling them to do.
Kelly OxfordAs a writer, I could write in Canada and still get the American benefits. But I wanted to come down here for the good weather and for the parties, I want to be social too. Being in LA is really great for that, for just running out and grabbing coffee with another writer. I couldn't do that in Canada. I love Los Angeles, and I love New York too; I just couldn't raise three kids there.
Kelly OxfordI like the idea that we can contain our weirdness, but I prefer it when we wear it all over ourselves.
Kelly OxfordI am a very emotional person. I basically think and feel in emotion, so writing is much easier for me than communicating by voice or by talking to somebody just because I can really get into the emotion more succinctly with writing. So I guess that's what makes me a better writer than speaker.
Kelly OxfordWomen have only had the vote for less than 100 years. Before that, we were wives and essentially kind of property. We grew up, and our parents wanted us to get married, so somebody else could look after us. And in the last few decades, it's changed. We can now have families without men. But, unfortunately, the dialogue, the old boys club, the locker room talk, has mysteriously not changed at all.
Kelly OxfordI'm not a big note-taker, so I think that the way I decide is that whatever I remember I always consider something that's important. If I remember a joke then I know it's a good joke, if I remember a story then I know it's a good story, and so that's how I curate what stories I'm going to write for the book. And I go over them again, make sure there's a theme and all that stuff, but mostly, it is intuition.
Kelly Oxford