I remember the first time I received validation for my writing. I was in a workshop headed by Scott Phillips, author of The Ice Harvest, and The Adjustment. We were sitting in the loft at Meshuggah Café when he told me not only did I write well, I wrote noir—it was dark, weird, and full of bad people doing bad things.

I remember, too, the first time I got to say, “I’m a writer.” I’d just had my first short story published and I’d been so eager to tell someone. I don’t remember the man I was talking to, or why we were talking. I do remember this also happened at Meshuggah, and I remember his response.