Frequently Asked Questions

I could write a very long memoir about it, which would be titled something like DESPAIR or TRIES AGAIN, FAILS AGAIN. It was excruciating. I grew a very thick skin for rejection and criticism. I had to fight to keep my head above water, and even now it’s somewhat challenging for me to identify myself as a writer.

I think I have what is called imposter syndrome. Hopefully it doesn’t take as long to shake it as it took to grow it. I don’t know that I could do it again.

Additionally, the circumstances of my life, which include my very long journey to success, have given me a deep well of material which I use to write good fiction. Nothing wasted. I wouldn’t trade it.

I didn’t know the word “epistolary” until someone used it in an interview about the book. I read 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, and loved it! I wanted to try the format, but expand it in order to tell a broader, deeper tale.

Yes!

You can only write in the voices of people who are no longer living, so I was able to write from Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. There are other public figures to whom Sybil writes, but I did not presume to pen a reply (which would have been illegal).

I was raised there, in a town just outside Annapolis, called Severna Park. I attended Severna Park High School. Go Falcons!

Almost, but not all. I think there are 3 I haven’t read. Here is the full list.

Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC will ship you a signed copy.

Always!

The Wayfinder by Adam Johnson. Up next is a re-read of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.