Yes. It was a short story about a girl who wrote in her journal and how she remembered more life lessons because she recorded her thoughts.

She discovers only after attending a relatives wedding 3,000 miles away why she started this lifelong habit: it came from her grandfather who carried his journal with him everywhere he went during his time as a Marine, fighting in the Pacific theater in World War II. He wrote in it before, during, and after some of the most harrowing, terrifying battle experiences.

Years later, his daughter found her father's journals, read them and determined that his practice of processing things in writing probably kept him from suffering the worst of PTSD like many of his buddies. She, in turn, shared this practice with her own daughter without telling her where this wisdom-building habit came from.

The rest of the story is discovered in a very powerful way.

Almost everything that eventually gets used is subject to about four drafts before it is considered good to go. So, to the degree that I have a set process, the main rule that I live by as a writer is patience. Yes, things can be over-analysed as to the best way to present a particular thought, idea or scenario. When unsure, I read it to my wife or have her read it. Generally, nothing will get worse with time. Reworking a turn of phrase here or adding a choppy little sentence there to create some attitude, can't be forced. To be willing to allow time to sort of give birth to those nuanced improvements makes the process feel somewhat like I am sculpting something.

I read the mega-best seller Roots by Alex Haley, cover to cover, when I was in the fifth grade. Heavy reading for a kid in grade school, but I was mesmerized. Shortly after finishing the book, I enjoyed the honor of actually getting to meet Alex Haley when he came to town to give a lecture at a nearby university during the height of the popularity of the book and the mini-series it was based on. I would say the impact that had on my life and what would become my determination to be an above-average writer was huge.

Before answering this, I will say that I do not recommend others do what I do in terms of reading habits because I am afraid I may be a bit of a freak. I just consume what my brain says it is hungry for, which is a fairly wide range of things. Generally, whether I know it or not, whatever I am currently reading ends up being research for something I am currently writing about, or about to.

For example, in preparing to write The Town and the Mayor for the the last few years, I read a great deal of state and federal law and court cases in different kinds of civil cases, usually commercial and breach of contract cases. Also bankruptcy and banking. The Uniform Commercial Code. All that kind of stuff. I keep hearing from The Town and the Mayor readers who ask how I know all this stuff. I read about it. I researched it.

A few months ago I spend eight days in New Orleans because I had not been there before and the book I am currently working on has a few chapters that take place there. The level of detail that comes from really knowing your topic definitely makes for more interesting reading. While it is true that the more you know, the more you run the risk of writing too much and boring the readers (like what may be happening right now), it is still important to know enough that you have insight about what to cut (to keep things concise) and what is vital for the story.

So, for pleasure, I generally read things that I believe will make me a better story teller... whatever that happens to be.

At the moment, an iPad... though I do love my good ol' first gen Kindle.

So far, I feel like I am a lousy marketer of my work.

I will say this, though: if you are a fantastic at marketing crappy work, it is still crappy work. Why make a name for yourself as someone who puts out crappy work? Put more into creating quality stuff that readers will want to read and come back for. If you sculpt great art in the form of your writing craft, but are not a phenomenal marketer of your work, do not despair. You will eventually get noticed. Good writing finds its market.

It is like a beach after a storm. Debris everywhere.

After I clean it off, I feel great. But I tend not to do that often enough.

I remember the thrill of seeing my own letter to the editor in print in a Sports Illustrated magazine in the early 80's. They included a photo of the subject of my letter and everything, so it occupied most of an entire page. I would say that was probably what later led to getting a regular column in my high school newspaper and so on.

It is explained in the Preface. I was in church one morning. I felt like the entire premise just sort of settled into my head almost instantly. I went home and started furiously writing. More research followed. Then more writing. And so on.

The feeling that something I have conveyed was done well enough that it made a positive impact on someone else. I love feeling good about something I have written, but I am still a little uneasy until I start getting feedback from readers and seeing sales numbers and that sort of thing; things that indicate stuff that I wrote made a connection with some folks out there.

My wife, my daughter, my step-kids, my good friends. They mean everything to me.

Fans (those who I have not yet met or interacted with) are a barometer of a bunch of stuff. For example, lots of fans of a particular project - good sales numbers and a good number of high ratings and reviews - might just mean that was a popular topic. More passionate feedback, however, through channels like social media; that indicates that I wrote some quality stuff. And that even goes for those who take the time to write to say they disagree with my premise or whatever. To me, they are all fans. And all that I get from them is valuable feedback. Valuable, but not everything.

Fans who become friends: well, now they are friends and friends are in the group of people who mean everything to me.