Show I (of a girl living between the cultures) kept going through my mind It wouldn’t go away It was 11 at night and my husband was saying “Come to bed” And I said “Wait a minute I want to see if I can write a short story” That’s really where it started What has been the biggest change in your life since The Clan of the Cave Bear was published? That I’m able to write That was the big fear Would I be able to do this for the rest of my life? (My income is) certainly comfortable There’s not that worry I still remember the very first thing I did with my very first advance was to pay off my entire Visa card What was your first splurge? There’s a friend of mine who did metal sculpture and she’d done a beautiful piece of abstract art I remember calling her up (after Clan came out) and saying “OK how much do you want?” She gave me a ridiculously low price I tripled it and sent her a check Are your fans ever intrusive? the People don’t recognize me I did have to “un-lis- t” phone because I was getting a lot of calls They were just people who were interested and curious What’s a day of writing like for you? I have an outline for the whole series I start entering it into the computer and add things as I go along Oftentimes I run into a situation where I have to check something I go to a book or several books and (do) these little thousand-wor-d essays into my comlast the I know of the very last sentence puter book I just don’t know all the other words What’s your best time to write? Usually I start in the evening and I write clear through the night and go to sleep at about 6 in the morning until noon or 2 or whatever I have no way to explain it except I’ve always been kind of a night person My last name is pronounced “owl" and I guess I’m a night owL Top books forfall New titles you'd be sorry to miss: Lady Boss Jackie Collins Simon & Schuster $2195 Do you have a ritual at the completion of each book? My second daughter Karen has to be the first reader I don’t tend to be superstitious but things have been going along let’s keep them that way She read the first draft of Clan before I’d even done any real rewriting and she got caught as a good book will catch on it For the last couple of books about the time I you — close when I know I’m going to write “The get End” — I tell my husband to put a bottle of champagne in the refrigerator Ronald Reagan An American Life Simon & Schuster November $2495 Ronald Reagan Buffalo Girls Larry McMurtry Simon & Schuster $1995 Rabbit at Rest John Updike Do you wish you’d started writing earlier than age 40 particularly since it took you five years to finish The Plains of Passage? Oh no No way While there are many young writers who are fine writers I never would have been one I needed to live some life I wish that I could get (the books) done sooner but they’re not books I hope the next two (will be) faster I’ve got a whole bunch of other ideas that I’d love to write about It would be interesting to write about the beginnings of agriculture Maybe I’ll write a mystery story Maybe I’ll write about the future Maybe I’ll invent a whole new culture By Sandy Graham $2195 Knopf The Witching Hour Knopf November $2295 Anne Rice A Stone Alone Bill Wyman $2295 Viking fast-writi- ng r I it Longshot Dick Francis Putnam My Son’s Story Nadine Gordimer Farrar Straus 1 I i pi '(3 T ii $1995 & Giroux i I- 's- - ’if $1995 |