It’s a devil’s bargain, being a writer. You’re committed to exposing yourself and your family to the outside world, for money. My work had been known, before Intimacy, as being quite charming, fun⁠—people really turned against me. It got really hot, very nasty. But I have quite thick skin in some ways. And at a certain point, it’s between you and your conscience. You go as close to the line as your conscience will permit in terms of producing material that pleases you. You’re working at the edge of risk, if you’re lucky. The writing can so easily go dead⁠—you want to feel some excitement when you’re in the room, some throbbing in the gristle. You want to hit the wave.