The Secret Miracle: The Novelist's Handbook

By David Alarcon

Book description: For every genius whose ideas are prone to bouncing away before they can be caged with a word processor, The Secret Miracle: The Novelist’s Handbook is here to prove you’re not alone. Edited by Daniel Alarcon, the collection of interviews document a star-studded discussion on the craft of writing by a slew of notable figures from all walks of the literary community including Michael Chabon, Paul Auster, Amy Tan, Haruki Murakami, Roddy Doyle, and Stephen King.

 EXCERPTS from Chapter 1: Reading and Influences
WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A NOVEL?

JENNIFER EGAN: The thing I most crave is to be sucked into a novel and feel that helpless sense that I can't stop reading, and that I'd do anything--give up anything, certainly a night's sleep--in order to keep reading. When I step back and look at what qualities in a novel inspire that sense of urgency (and I wish it happened more often) I'd say the top one is surprise. The surprise can arrive in many forms: a fresh, distinct voice; a story whose moves are counterintuitive or unexpected; the language stands out as being original, or innovative. What most excites me as a reader is the sense that I'm encountering material I haven't seen before.

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