On the book tour for my debut novel, the question I was asked at every event was why I did not give up—even as it took me seven years to complete my manuscript, writing every Saturday alongside a demanding career, despite the eighty-eight rejections from agents, and without heeding the feedback I received that my story had no market. There would have been next to no repercussions if I had stopped writing, an easier abandonment than if I’d had to quit a program I’d financially invested in. But degree or no, my certitude remained. I answered those questions the way younger me would have: Giving up did not cross my mind. I was compelled to tell the story. {read}