Sometimes I do work on a longer manuscript in tandem with one or two shorter pieces - whether it's a short story or an essay (though I don't write many of the latter).

I think it takes a very generous and tolerant non-famous partner to stick with the famous person, especially if s/he wasn't famous when they first got together. And add to it the fact that the Web makes it extremely easy to meet admirers... well, there are a lot of temptations to be ignored, or else embraced.

The effects of fame on the not-famous people who are close to a celebrity - this is definitely a topic that continues to interest me.

Jealousy is a potent emotion, of course, and Facebook, texting, email, fan Web pages... In theory, being someone like George Clooney's or Halle Berry's paramour - woo hoo - how great would that be? But wait a minute... er, no, probably kind of a nightmare.

Sometimes I do work on a longer manuscript in tandem with one or two shorter pieces - whether it's a short story or an essay (though I don't write many of the latter).

Thirty years ago, the Pandora's box of the Internet wasn't yet a fact of life, and celebrities inhabited a more remote, hard-to-reach plane.

Mostly what ends up inspiring me and affecting my work are books by authors that I love.