And I know I'm supposed to feel guilty for wanting people to buy my books... and books in general? Novels and poetry, they belong to the realm of art. How dirty of us to try to hawk art! But, after a decade of hand-wringing and apologies, I can't quite muster the guilt anymore.

The generation of women who came before us did much of our shouting. They laid the groundwork and now we can be calm and constant and steady.

I prefer true over happy now.

Each genre has something to teach me about the others. Not all the lessons are transferable, but many of the most important ones are.

If I'd learned nothing else, it was this: If you want to be a great writer, be a man. If you can't be a man, write like one.

First, you hand over some basics-overwhelming joy, existential angst, a giving-in to desire, etc. And then you promise to withstand talking idly about the weather, to encourage cliché, to uphold the virtues of average. You hand over the need to be understood and, in return, you get a bar of Normal soap. And you can wash in it and be daily reborn to a safe world of modest, enduring love or, at least, mild, well-mannered bonding.

The basic rule of storytelling is 'show, don't tell.