If you open the door and realize things like the fact that Batman is occupying the same narrative space that Robin Hood used to fill 400 years ago, then you have the freedom to ignore the pointless "what is literature" discussion and just talk about stories.

You know, I could have carried you.

I don't speak fluent bumpkin.

I will say the most raw joy I've experienced reading has probably come from the times I've been reading with my little boys.

Caffeine helps a lot. That and a certain amount of isolation.

Reading is professionally important for me to keep tuned in to what's being written in my genre, let's not lie. But that's not the reason I read. I read for my own emotional and mental health. If I stopped reading, I'd probably just die.

If I talk about what I'm good at, I seem like I'm a conceited egomaniac.