Justine Larbalestier
Justine Larbalestier is an Australian young-adult fiction author. She is best known for the Magic or Madness trilogy: Magic or Madness, Magic Lessons and the newly released Magic's Child. She also wrote one adult non-fiction book, the Hugo-nominated The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (Best Related Book, 2003), and edited another, Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century.
Her surname has been pronounced in several different ways, but the FAQ on her website says that Lar-bal-est-ee-air is correct:
Q: How do you pronounce your surname? A: Lar-bal-est-ee-air. It can also be pronounced Lar-bal-est-ee-ay or Lar-bal-est-ee-er. Those are all fine by me. Friends at school used to pronounce it: Lavaworm. I have to really like you to let you get away with that one, but.
Larbalestier was born and raised in Sydney, Australia. She now alternates living between Sydney and New York City.
In 2001, Justine married fellow author Scott Westerfeld.
“Manipular las mentiras es una cosa; dejar que ellas te manipulen a ti, otra muy distinta.”
“Ser una mentirosa no es fácil. Para empezar, has de tener muy presente el hilo de todas tus mentiras. Recordar exactamente qué has dicho y a quién se los ha dicho. Porque esa primera mentira siempre te conduce a la siguiente.Nunca hay una sola mentira.”
“We are all made of broken glass. The school grinds along on grief and anger.”
“‘Expect the best, but prepare for the worst.’ I'm good at the first part, crap at the second.”
“I can critique the bad; I can take the good, and I can add whatever I want.”
“If you are causing trouble, look for allies, always.”
“I don't think that now: half of everything is something, not nothing. Lots of somethings”
“A difference in self loathing? Please. The only difference between a gun and a rope is the time it takes to tie the knot.”
“All the male faces in the room turned to me as if they were flowers and I the sun.”
“The ruggers followed me all the way to the cafeteria. I felt like the Pied Piper, except that the rats probably weren't offering to share protein-rich snacks with him.”
“Wherever I go the music playing is always something I like. I never hear music I hate.""If you never hear it, how do you know what music you don't like?" I asked, not sure if I'd made any sense. It was spinny trying to figure it out. Didn't you know what you liked in contrast to what you didn't? But if he only heard music he liked, he'd never have any contrast. Did that mean he liked everything?”
“Danders Anders squealed with joy. The most malodorous sound in the world.”
“Would you like to press charges?" the officer asked. She was not serious. Nobody pressed charges against stars of A-stream teams, especially ones like Danders Anders who were in their final year and on the brink of superlative careers."I'd love to press charges," Rochelle answered. "That would be joyous."The officer grinned. "Wouldn't it?”
“I love that everyone's into sports, that no one even talks about loving it 'cause it's too obvious. It's the air we breathe.”
“He didn't mean to corner me, but when you're as tall and wide as he is and I'm as little as I am, merely standing beside me constitutes menacement.”
“Really, according to the shrinks, I am angry at everyone ever. Especially them.I am all anger and resentment all the time.Not one of them has ever suggested that maybe I lie because the world is better the way I tell it.”
“Who’s the bigger liar?Me or them?Isn’t lying about love the worst lie? Isn’t that worse than anything I’ve ever done?”
“My father is a liar and so am I.But I’m going to stop. I have to stop.I will tell you my story and I will tell it straight. No lies, no omissions.That’s my promise.This time I truly mean it.”
“That was what magic was: greed. Magic wielders didn't wield magic; it wielded them”
“Zombies are the proletariat. Long live the workers!”
“The job of every generation is to discover the flaws of the one that came before it. That's part of growing up, figuring out all the ways your parents and their friends are broken.”