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Lauren Groff reads approximately 300 books per year, toggling between upward of 10 different titles at any given time. While working on her latest novel, The Vaster Wilds, she revisited everything from Robinson Crusoe to Shakespeare, but it was actually a reality TV show that had the most surprising impact on the book. “I was super into Naked and Afraid,” the three-time National Book Award finalist tells Bustle. “Only in hotels do I watch reality TV. There’s something so satisfying about watching, [for instance], the Property Brothers totally remake a house in half an hour.”

Much has been made of the extremity of Groff’s writing process, from her voracious reading habits to her choice to write the first drafts of her novels in longhand. But what becomes clear in speaking with Groff is that her capacity to undergo extremes is matched by her capacity for joy.

“Florence and the Machine’s Dance Fever came out while I was editing this book so I’d take dance breaks to it [with my dog, Olive]. She also dances,” Groff says, now beaming. “Or I’ll read a great deal of poetry aloud to her. She hates it and tries to escape it, so I sort of chase her around the house reading it. She is the number one star of everything that I do.”