I recently had an opportunity to do a Q&A with Deborah Kalb, whose book blog, Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, which she started in 2012, features interviews she has conducted with a wide variety of authors.

Do you write every day? When I'm in a project, yes. But I take breaks, too. Recently, I paused to prep for a workshop I'm hosting here in Greenville with Stuart O'Nan. Sometimes I step away to do physical things – like pressure-washing the house! It sounds silly, but those breaks often bring clarity.

Growing up, I read the classics—John Steinbeck, Hemingway, Fitzgerald. Steinbeck told great stories, Hemingway wrote with precision, Fitzgerald with elegance. I also read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. I thought it was fascinating until I realized the philosophy beneath it – corporations ruling the world – didn't sit right with me.

The boys are asleep in a cave near the trestle when a cougar appears at the mouth of the cave and then disappears "into the night woods." I've always looked for lyrical phrases like that. My mentor, Lee K. Abbott, was phenomenal at choosing titles. He taught me that you shouldn't start a title with "A" or "The" if you can avoid it, and that the best ones often come straight from the story's imagery.

At around 55 – about 20 years ago – I went to Converse for an MFA in poetry. I wrote poems, then short stories, then a novel. I took a job at Force Protection (now part of General Dynamics) writing training manuals for six to eight months. Then I decided to pursue the MFA seriously.

One of our country's greatest short story writers was Lee K. Abbott. If you haven't read his short story, One of 'Star Wars', One of 'Doom,' then you have an incredible treat waiting on you. A warning, though, it will break your heart.

I always knew I wanted to write a novel eventually, but I wasn't sure I was capable yet. I started out writing really bad poetry – truly bad – and couldn't understand why editors weren't asking me to write more. Eventually, I realized I needed to work on craft until mentors Lee K. Abbott and Rod Smith told me, "This is good, publish it."

Years ago, at my first creative writing workshop at Kenyon College, Rosanna Warren (Robert Penn Warren's daughter) told me three things about my writing. First, your ear is your gift. Second, read the Norton Anthology of Poetry from cover to cover. Lastly, take your writing more seriously. (Actually, she said stop writing junk.)

How long did Into the Night Woods take to write? About four years. I was learning as I wrote; I'd stop and read, study craft, go back and revise. Everything is hard until you learn how it works.