After five years of work and a lot of procrastination, I finished my MFA degree. I started the program in 2014 in nonfiction and moved into fiction a year or so later. My thesis is a collection of short stories and essays. I called it People Get Hurt because . . . . people do get hurt.

Early in my work with mentor Leslie Daniels — who was a tremendous teacher and inspiration, I could not have done the work without her — I wrote her that I think people should get hurt. In fiction, and in life. If you’re not getting hurt, you’re not being open, you’re not taking chances. Onward!