Ani DiFranco was wrong to try to host a gathering in a Southern plantation, but she also taught me a lot about life as a writer.

"I am struck by the mediocrity of my finest hour."

"I don't know why red fades before blue, it just does."

These two sentiments have colored my career as a writer.

I struggle to be taken seriously, mostly in my own head.

The anger I feel always fades before the shame that I am not better. The knowledge that we all die alone doesn't stop me from wishing someone would remember what I said before I went.

And then there is the horror that I care.