Sometimes it doesn’t make sense. You did everything right: went to college, earned good grades, published short stories. You finished grad school with a full-length manuscript, even scored some artist residencies. Your list of professional references is growing, an excellent sign. The right people are endorsing your work. It appears

In Spring of 2008, I graduated from college.  I had gone on scholarship, and before that I was high school valedictorian, so my parents kind of expected Big Things from me.  Imagine their surprise when I turned out to be a broke “screw-up” without a money-making  job title or life plan!