Q & A

I knew I had the talent. When I was fifteen I was picking out clothes that I would wear when I became a successful writer. I was sure I'd make it, but you have to learn the craft, how to tell the story.—Mary Higgins Clark

Powell's Books—Porland, Oregon's "legendary" independent bookstore—has an excellent series of author interviews up on their website. Anne Patchett, Michael Chabon, and Susan Orlean are among the many writers who have visited Powell's in the past few years and taken a moment to talk to Dave Weich about their particular writing life.

Paul Greenberg's Leaving Katya has encouraged me to read more contemporary fiction, though I'm sceptical that I'll find many books that will match the quality of his debut. But Anne Sebold's The Lovely Bones and Patchett's Bel Canto intrigue me, even more so after reading the interviews.

I just learned that Ethan Hawke published a novel last year (Ash Wednesday). His interview is (predictably) awful. It's not quite his fault, though. One of the first questions tossed his way delineated the strong similarities between his main female protagonist and his wife, actress Uma Thurman. I don't know what's worse: the autobiographical novel or "autobiographical" criticism.

If writers on writing gets tiresome, I recommend Weich's interview with Jacques Pépin, which includes a hilarious repartee between Pépin and his daughter Claudine ("There are two [foods] that I know [my father doesn't like]: cinnamon and coconut. I give him Big Red every once in a while. "No!" he says.). Mary Higgins Clark's interview is also a fun read. I never knew she once worked as a Pan Am international stewardress.