What has Oprahs seal of approval meant?
It opened me up to so many more millions of readers I might not have had, but it’s also a double-edged sword. I struggled quite a bit with trying to start this third novel. I had all those Oprah readers with their expectations in my writing room. I had to open my office door and shoo everybody’s expectations out of there. Q: It has been 10 years since your last novel. Why? A: I tried very hard to write the best book I could, which is why it takes me so long. I had a five-year deadline, and it took me four years beyond that. I’m a great one for avoidance. And I can never plan a book out, so it’s a daily discovery. One door opens to another door that opens onto a third door. Q: You take on a lot in this book: Columbine, Iraq, Katrina, drug addiction, child sexual abuse, alcoholism, troubled marriages, even the Cocoanut Grove fire. That’s a lot to go through — for you and the reader. Do you ever getemotionally exhausted? A: Oh yeah, right from the start with this one. Going online and rea
