I always worried someone would notice me, and then when no one did, I felt lonely.

The best part of being a writer for me is immersing myself in a fictional world, which is the opposite of being on social media. At the same time, if no one ever read my work, if I was writing solely for myself, I bet it would be lonely and a lot less fun.

... nothing broke my heart like the slow death of a shared joke that had once seemed genuinely funny.

I feel like people who criticize authors for being self-promotional fail to recognize that a lot of times their ability to continue writing hinges on sales and recognition. Some of it is for fun, some of it is for ego, but a lot of it is just writers trying to ensure longevity to their career.

When I was writing my first two books I was also freelancing and teaching and doing other odd jobs.

The fact is that in this day and age I don't think any novelist can assume that a book will get attention.

She really does like him, she likes lying next to him, she wants to be around him; when you get down to it, can you say that about many people?