Amazing what we can self-rationalize when we really want something

A trial is two narratives competing for your attention.

"So basically, that entire theory is blown to hell."Not basically," Win corrected. "Entirely."

Getting into a fight with a popular senior. Pissing off a school teacher and the local chief of police. Hanging with two major-league losers." She slapped my back. "Welcome to high school.

I still try to make the "next" book my "best" book. I want to grip and move you in unexpected ways.

If I had, say, a tall, amateur male lead living on the campus of a rural college (Six Years), the next book might feature a short, cop who lives in the heart of Manhattan (Missing You).

Let me back up a little and tell you why I prefer writing to real life: You can rewrite. A novel, for example, can be cleaned up, altered, trimmed, improved. Life, on the other hand, is one big messy rough draft.