What I write about in my novels is also what's in my life.
The world needs voices that are positive and grateful, and that can be me.
For women, my best travel tip is to invest in two to three cashmere ponchos. I buy the brand Minnie Rose. They're good cover in three seasons, and they make wonderful travel blankets.
I was a huge fan of J. Courtney Sullivan's novel 'Maine,' and like that novel, 'Saint' is a family saga set in Boston. Irish Catholic family secrets - is there anything better?
For graduate school I ended up going to the University of Iowa, which is, of course, the best graduate writing program in the country.
I have this ridiculous exercise regime in the summer that I do not deviate from.
It has always been a goal of mine to climb Kilimanjaro, so that's definitely happening, and I may write a memoir about it. When I was 25, I tried to trek to Everest Base Camp, but I got sick and ended up being carried out of Dingboche on the back of my Sherpa. So Kilimanjaro would represent a redemption of sorts.
I can cook a good soup from scratch, this is true, and I do know how to drive a stick shift.
Venting your anger on anyone - especially complete strangers - is not a winning tactic. Be especially sweet to bartenders and people serving you food.
I have met women who said, 'I started reading you when I sat in the chemo chair, and it made me feel better.' That is as humbling as it gets, to know that you, in some way, made the worst day of their life a little bit better.
I am a summer person.
Iowa City is okay as Midwestern cities go, but there's no food, no culture, no ocean.
I live a life very similar to my characters in that I live a full-blown summer fantasy from June to September. I go to the beach and work there every day.
I am a very nerdy reader in that I am as disciplined about my reading as I am about my writing.
I consider reading to be part of my job.
I had a Kindle for a brief while, but I dropped it in the ocean, and that was the end of electronic reading for me.
Like most writers, I read constantly. I used to hide in remote parts of the yard and house so I could read in peace.
I've tried to tell my kids: If you're reading something engrossing, you'll never, ever be bored.
I'm not going to give quotes about inventing the 'beach book,' but I was certainly at the forefront of it.
My books, I will say one thing - they all have a driving narrative, and you have to turn the pages, and the way you do that is to create characters that you really love and care about and put them in a fairly dire situation.
