I never understood quite how much public speaking came with being a writer, because after I wrote my first book no one asked me to do any. They didn’t ask after my second book either. That was fine with me: I had never done any public speaking and, like all normal people, I was terrified of the prospect.
Then in 2014, with the publication of my fourth book still a couple of weeks away, I was invited to a literary festival. I hadn’t been to many literary festivals, but for some reason I was sure I knew what to expect: a kindly interviewer would sit on stage with me, a small table holding a pitcher of water between us, and ask me a lot of softball questions about my process. I wasn’t comfortable with this either, but I said yes.
