My summer reading suggestion: Pick a really famous, really long novel.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
If I had to name one book that has had the most lasting influence on my work, I would pick 'The Big Sea' by Langston Hughes.
I have resolved to pick one novel and just read it over and over again for the rest of my life, because I cannot remember anything anymore.
Recently, I haven't had too much time to read. But I love a good romance novel.
I love 'To Kill A Mockingbird' - it seems to offer up new layers every time you read it. I also love Kate Atkinson's 'Behind The Scenes At The Museum' - that's the book that started me writing.
I have a hard time finding something that I really enjoy reading, but I read 'The Great Gatsby' every summer.
My novels are all ideas.
I have a really good idea for a novel and would like to just kind of try my hand at fiction. I'm starting to kind of get a really good body of work going from a literary standpoint. As long as the audience is there, man, I'll keep cranking them out.
My favorite novel is 'To Kill a Mockingbird' because of its broad sweep, its tackling of big issues in ways that even young minds can make sense of and for the heart of the characters, who span a wide range of ages. I reread it every year.
I read a lot of short fiction, like Kurt Vonnegut and Raymond Carver and Wells Tower.
I would recommend the short story form, which is a lot harder to write since you have to be so careful with words, until there is plenty of time to doodle through a novel.