Sue Miller's new novel is The Arsonist.From her Q & A with Melissa Albert at The Barnes & Noble Book Blog:
[Y]ou say you were a writer from your very early years. Do you remember any books that kind of set you on that path, any particular writers?--Marshal Zeringue
Jane Eyre must have been something I read six or seven times as an early adolescent. And Kristin Lavransdatter, and Lorna Doone when I was younger. My parents had a pretty rich library, no jackets on any of the books, so no descriptions. You just pulled something off the shelf and started to read it. There was no knowing what was going to happen in this book, no flap copy. And if you liked it, you kept reading. That was sort of magical in a certain way. Before I got married I always removed the jackets and threw them away because I just felt as though they’re sort of extraneous. That text that tells you what you’re about to read, it takes something away from the novel for me. Now I’ve learned to keep the jackets on, but I do think flap copy often gives away too much or tells you how you’re supposed to read this book. When I was a kid, I loved just launching into a book without any idea where it might head, what it was going to be about. It was...[read on]