Reading and Writing One of the questions people ask about is what I’m reading. I was a voracious reader growing up and that habit continued uninterrupted until I had kids. During the time both kids were under the age of two, I couldn’t finish a cup of coffee much less a book. As the kids got older, I was able to go back to reading and did so. Then, however, in 1982 I hit another full stop as far as reading was concerned. That’s when I started writing, and I worried that reading other people’s material might somehow cross pollinate mine. I know now that was clearly a case of authorial insecurity from someone who had not yet developed her own voice and was worried about copying someone else’s.