We'll Have A 'rest Of

Unlike My Mother, My Father Does Not Cry Quietly. His Wails Roll Out Like A Wave Of Pain, And I Scramble To Roll Up My Window. My Mother Cannot Hear That. I Cannot Bear To Hear It Myself. I Am Not Used To My Father's Crying. I've Had No Time To Harden My Heart Against Him.

When Writing Isn't Going Well-then The Bad Thing About Being A Writer Is That I Also Have The Freedom And Flexibility To Do Something Badly, And No One Else Can Fix It For Me.

Generally I Finish A First Draft In 2-6 Months, Then I Set It Aside For A While So That When I Come Back To It I Can Read It With Fresh Eyes And Figure Out How To Improve It.

I Write A Book Over A Period Of Months Or Years, And When I'm Done With It, Usually Another Year Goes By Before I See It In Print. It's Hard To Be Patient And Wait

The Deadlines Are Much, Much Longer With Books. When I Was A Reporter, A Lot Of Times I'd Come In At 8:30 A.m., Get An Assignment Right Away, Interview Somebody, Turn The Story In By 9:30, And Have The Finished Story In The Paper That Landed On My Desk By Noon.