Shorter work - personal essays and book reviews - allow me to take a break from working on a book, which is good for the book and for its author.
I work in a small study on the top floor of a brownstone in Brooklyn - it's about 75 square feet, 11 taken up by book shelves along one wall.
I can't work out much about myself or what I see in the world around me unless I do it through writing.
I don't care what people think about me. I care what people think about my work. As a young woman, I was so eager to please that I served others' happiness and even their values before my own.