Maddie’s Reviews > Why We Write: 20 Acclaimed Authors on How and Why They Do What They Do > Status Update

It turned out the chimney of the furnace was leaking carbon monoxide. When we stopped using the furnace, the novel stopped putting me to sleep. The lesson there is, sometimes it's not as bad as you think." (2/2)

Jane Smiley says (about A Thousand Acres): "I was writing it in the winter in the little office in our new house in Ames, Iowa. I kept falling asleep as I wrote. I put the manuscript aside, thinking it must be really boring. Then spring came and I reread it, and it seemed pretty good. (1/2)

List continued: Terry McMillan - sounds like a woman after my own heart. She has a very powerful voice. Ann Patchett - I'm interested in reading her book What Now? and finally Jodi Picoult - great quote for advice "Write even when you don't feel like writing. There is no muse. It's hard work. You can always edit a bad page, but you can't edit a blank page."