From Days of Our Lives to The Road–What’s a Writer do With the Kids?

Every book I write has its own special backstory: the way it came about, the books I read or films I watched while writing it, what was going on in my marriage, my diet, or inside my head. I can make all the plans I like (though I never write to a strict outline) ahead of time, but no book is ever exactly as I imagine it to be on the first day I sit down to write. Every extra doughnut, good hair day, or sick day will influence it. Think of writing a book as creating a special meal. You can wo...