I do think I was trying to entertain the reader more than I was trying to purge myself.

Perhaps this is how you know you're doing the thing you're intended to: No matter how slow or how slight your progress, you never feel that it's a waste of time.

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

The better you learn to take care of yourself, the less you settle for being around people who can't or won't treat you as well as you're accustomed.

I feel that Pride and Prejudice is an incredibly well constructed novel on every level. The dialogue is great. The character development is great. The plotting is great. The pacing is great. The language is great.

I do think I was trying to entertain the reader more than I was trying to purge myself.

She has always been a bystander in family destruction, never realizing she herself possessed the capacity to inflict it.