text:  So that's the only way I've ever really known to write. My very first novel, I had no idea how to write a novel, but I quickly learned that a novel is you write 10 or 12 pages and you hit a wall, you cast about for what happens next, and maybe it takes 10 hours, maybe it takes 10 weeks, and then you finally get the next 10 or 12 pages. Every time I hit that 10 or 12 page wall, I just reached into my head and pulled out a piece of my life and put it on the page.