--> How many rejection slips did you get before your first novel was published?
I like to say that I never got any rejection letters because all letters went to my agent. I was lucky enough, though, to have multiple publishers interested in my first book.
--> Have you ever thrown away a book that you just couldn't make work?
No. I spend a long time thinking before I start to write. I don't outline, and I don't know exactly what's going to happen, but by the time I start to type, I have made a commitment to a concept or a vibe or a character that I know I want to live with for the next year.
--> Is it still exciting to publish a new book even after all this time?
So, so, so, so exciting. If I'm ever not excited to see my name on a book on a shelf, just shoot me.
--> Do you get ideas for new books all the time and you keep them written down, or does one come to mind when you need one?
I'd love to be one of those authors with the next 12 books all lined up mentally, but I'm a serial monogamist. One idea at a time.
--> Do you have entire story arcs mapped out when you begin a trilogy or a series of related books?
I believe there are a few issues that Ellie Hatcher will eventually have to tackle. I don't know when those issues will arise, and how she will resolve them, but I won't see the series as successful unless I eventually take her through these challenges.
--> Do you know how a book/series is going to end when you begin it?
No. I have an idea of the bad things that happen and who does them and why, but I don't know how the story will unfold on the page until I write, one page at a time.
--> Is there any kind of book you would like to write but haven't?
Yes. It's a book about my first dog, Duffer, and all the things I learned from him. Apparently someone else already did that, though, about some dog called Marley.
--> If you could change anything about your writing career, what would it be?
I wouldn't change my career, but I wouldn't' mind having a clone -- one person to be Professor Burke at the law school while I make stuff up on a computer.
--> If you could have written any single work – novel, screenplay, stage play, poem, history, biography – that you most admire and adore, what would it be?
I wish I had written THE HOURS by Michael Cunningham.
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