I really absolutely loved writing my first book.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
My first book was poetry, but I didn't write it first. I wrote it third. So my first two books were prose.
My first book was the book that changed my life.
I'm glad I wrote them when I did because I think if I were to write my first novel now, it would be a different book, and it may not be the book that everybody wants to read. But if I were given a red pen now, and I went back... I'd take that thing apart.
While I'm writing, I'm also the first reader, and I want to write a book where I'm excited about what happens next.
I knew I loved writing, and I was raised by people who love books.
I loved the process of writing.
I was incredibly lucky that my first book found a large and loyal readership. It changed my life - from being a very withdrawn adult to living in Paris as a full-time writer. It has also given me enormous confidence.
I always knew writing a novel was a great thing.
My first book is really comparable to what I do now, where it's pretty surreal and strange at moments, but that being my first book - I wrote that when I was 22; it came out when I was 24 - and it was just really overwritten. I just didn't trust myself as a writer to say something once.
Comics is still my first love. But I always did other kinds of writing, too, so I think of myself as a writer first.