Genres Are Just Bottles For The Various

When A Colleague Of Mine Had A Notable New York Times Book, I Said, Turn One Of The Chapters In The Collection Into A Pitch For A Novel And Sell It To Your Publisher.

I Always Think I Know The Way A Novel Will Go. I Write Maps On Oversized Art Pads Like The Kind I Carried Around In College When I Was Earnest About Drawing. I Need To Have Some Idea Of The Shape Of The Novel, Where Its Headed, So That I Can Proceed With Confidence. But The Truth Is My Characters Start Doing And Saying Things I Don't Expect.

And I Know I'm Supposed To Feel Guilty For Wanting People To Buy My Books... And Books In General? Novels And Poetry, They Belong To The Realm Of Art. How Dirty Of Us To Try To Hawk Art! But, After A Decade Of Hand-wringing And Apologies, I Can't Quite Muster The Guilt Anymore.

Don't Shame The Young For Releasing Their Pent-up Fear.

She Knows That Whispers Can Be Useful. Sometimes They Contain Real Information. But Usually They're Fairy Tales And Lies. This Is The Worst Kind Of Whisper, The Kind That Draws You In, Gives You Hope.