Men Would Eat Horse Droppings,

I Have No Objection To Well-written Romance, But I'd Read Enough Of It To Know That That's Not What I Had Written. I Also Knew That If It Was Sold As Romance I'd Never Be Reviewed By The 'new York Times' Or Any Other Literarily Respectable Newspaper - Which Is Basically True, Although The 'washington Post' Did Get Round To Me Eventually.

You're Tearin' My Guts Out, Claire.

I Didn't Want To Tell The Story Of What Makes Two People Come Together, Although That's A Theme Of Great Power And Universality. I Wanted To Find Out What It Takes For Two People To Stay Together For Fifty Years -- Or More. I Wanted To Tell Not The Story Of Courtship, But The Story Of Marriage.

When You Hold A Child To Your Breast To Nurse, The Curve Of The Little Head Echoes Exactly The Curve Of The Breast It Suckles, As Though This New Person Truly Mirrors The Flesh From Which It Sprang.

I Work On Multiple Projects At A Time Because It Keeps Me From Getting Writer's Block.