I watch quite a bit of junk television, but I'm never tempted by the sort of book people call "a beach read." When I'm working hard at my own writing, especially, I am really picky. Maybe I'm afraid banal sentences are contagious.

In June I spent a few weeks in Ecuador, where my new novel is set. I came home with my head swimming, and now I'm trying hard to hammer out the last 100 pages of my book. So I'm not reading a lot except for memoirs and other books that pertain to my story.