Heard a fascinating interview with Baltimore author Anne Tyler this morning on NPR on the way to work.  She's the author of The Accidental Tourist, Breathing Lessons and many more.  I have never read a thing written by Anne Tyler, but after hearing the interview I want to.  She's very frank about what the writing experience is like for her on a day to day basis and how she handles the process of creating characters she falls in love with and is forced to send off into the world. I'll try to add copy from an article about the interview as well.  Here's the link to the NPR show which you can listen to on their site.  It's only about 9 minutes.  Enjoy.
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/30/148926821/the-art-of-the-everyday-the-alchemy-of-anne-tyler