For writers, so much is done in isolation. It can be easy to feel detached, or to get a little lost along the way.

I can think of plenty of writers whose work I revere and whose lives I know little about.

I feel like it's a good time to be a writer. I'm terminally optimistic. It seems like the publishing industry is in the middle of a big transition, and that the rules of the game are still sorting themselves out.

For writers, so much is done in isolation. It can be easy to feel detached, or to get a little lost along the way.

Oftentimes, if a writer really gets her hooks into me, I'll want to read interviews, or listen to an interview, or read a literary biography or a memoir of some kind. And doing so almost always deepens my enjoyment of the author and her work.

To do my job well, I have to be a good listener. The listening is so much more important than the talking.

The modern media environment is so overrun with bullshit and static and people trying to sell you stupid crap. It makes you want to bite yourself.