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I used to love writing in my journal.

I was really exposed to great old-time literature - the classics, the poetic realists like Strindberg and Ibsen and all those guys. I was really inspired by all those guys. That's when writing became a primary focus.

I remember the absolute joy I used to get out of writing. The purity of imagining something and then putting it down on paper - it was such a pleasure. I read whatever I could get my hands on, from 'Great Expectations' to 'The Thorn Birds.'

I loved to read, still do, and it seemed that the writing was a result of the love of books and reading and libraries.

I didn't think I would be an exceptional writer, and I thought I might be a useful publisher. I've never regretted it.

I love the essay. It's my favorite genre to work in.

I thought it was amazing to work with authors, to get a manuscript and try to make up a cover for it.

I loved the process of writing.

It was very hard for me to put my life on paper. It was a very intimate process, very psychological, but at the same time liberating. It was like cleaning the closet, like cleaning the house... It was very refreshing.

Certainly a decade and a half out in the real world, bashing my head against things, probably made me into a more textured writer. It gives you something to write about.