Ten Questions

“There was nothing hard about writing it, it was more like finally giving in to some terrible force.” —Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen

This week’s installment of Ten Questions features Ho Sok Fong and Natascha Bruce, the author and the translator of the story collection Lake Like a Mirror.

“Just opening the document each day keeps it on track.” —Rebecca Dinerstein Knight, author of Hex

“Work that’s good, that’s itself, eventually gets seen.” —Paul Lisicky, author of Later

“I find the notion of being ‘a writer’ ephemeral and fraught, while ‘someone who wrote today’ feels straightforward and manageable.” —Jordan Kisner, author of Thin Places 

“At the heart of it, writing is about connection—to yourself, to those you love, and then, hopefully, to others.” —Nancy Krygowski, author of The Woman in the Corner

“It wasn’t until the final year or so that I felt I had some control over the shape and content, that I understood how the pieces worked together.” —Mark Bibbins, author of 13th Balloon

“I had a substantially different version of this book that just wasn’t working, scrapped it, did that again, and then the third time was a charm.” —Charles Yu, author of Interior Chinatown

“I write every day when I am in the middle of a novel. And I write intensely when I am in the middle of a short story or a poem. At all other times I blame myself for not writing.” —Amanda Michalopoulou, author of God's Wife

“Fridays I would slash and burn upwards of 80 percent of that week’s word haul. Anything that stayed had to earn its keep.” —Tommy Pico, author of Feed