I think the best advice I got was to not worry about what other people would think while you were working on your first draft. Focus on getting it out of your head. You can always edit the manuscript later.

Once your writing is out there, you can't control how other people perceive it. All you can do is stand in your truth.

I don't see the point of pretending we're clones.

The push and pull of representing your world responsibly and your artistic license is a tricky balance.

The critiques I received from my father's community didn't actually have to do with any of the things I'd been afraid of - spiritual or cultural aspects - they were more annoyed that I'd killed off this character or those characters hadn't hooked up or I'd done an open ending and it didn't give them a sense of closure that they were expecting.

Fewer publishers mean you have a limited set of aesthetics, so you know who can and can't send your work to. You have more situations where you take the offer or don't get published or you learn to self-publish.

I don't know if I have a book in me, but I'm sure I have more essays.