Tell us about writing

I was interested in a girl who takes a canoe ride with her grandfather. I had that terribly sylvan image in my head and I couldn’t get rid of it. Then I wanted them to talk about something that would interest me and so I figured out a way for them to talk about marriage. As I built the novel, I found that I had to turn the girl into a boy. But I was determined to cling to that very sentimental image of the grandfather and the boy in a canoe on a lake. It was the one thing I wouldn’t give up.

What was the best (or worst) part of the publishing process?

I work as a publisher for a children’s imprint so I know the day-to-day work of publishing very well. And I love its highs and lows. But for me, the best part of the publishing process is writing the novel. I love to sit and write and throw away and then repeat. The worst part is not selling hundreds of thousands of copies!

If you could choose to have written any book in history, what would it be, and why?

There are a whole lot of angry young men novels that I wish I had written, just to say that I had done it. This is the only possible reason I can think of to be jealous of Martin Amis. But I suppose I wish I could have written any of Zola’s novels, particularly Nana. Sanctuary by William Faulkner is another but I don’t envy Faulkner his life. Perhaps P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves novels? Those must’ve been a lot of fun to write.

Tell us about what it was like opening up to the world of book reviews.

I can tell you about a review I got for my first novel. It was in Time magazine and I was told there would be a photograph of me. I went to a new stand on Third Avenue in Manhattan on the day the review came out, bought Time, opened to the page, found my picture, and said to the guy who sold it to me: ‘That’s me, isn’t it?’ And he said yes. He smiled and we shook hands and I went back to whatever day job I had at that time. I’ll never forget that moment and I’m still grateful to that guy for celebrating with me.

Love is a Canoe