When personal computers first came out, I jumped on the bandwagon and bought one. I remember my dad watching a news show on TV around that time and asking me what “Windows” was. I had no idea. Back then, if I had any problem with the computer, I knew it was my fault. Now, while I have eight or ten windows open at a time, I know when I have difficulty with my computer, it’s usually the computer’s fault.

Over the years my outlook on my writing has also changed. I once took more stock in what others said about my writing than what I believed about it. Now I have the strength of my convictions. I know what I like and I write what I like. I don’t like everything I read, so I don’t expect everyone to like what I write. But that doesn’t make me like it any less. I have my own unique voice, and if you don’t like it, go read something else.

That doesn’t mean I can’t benefit from observations or advice from an astute editor or reader. I send all my ebooks to my oldest friend Chris, who walked to school with me starting in the first grade. She’s one of the smartest people I know and has always been wise beyond her years. She’s also a voracious reader and fearlessly blunt in her opinions. Call me opinionated myself, but I have much more faith in evaluations by an intelligent, avid reader than by a 25-year-old publishing house assistant editor who scans 20 manuscripts a day.