So, what brings you to Nashville?

For me, it went a little something like this: I moved to New York City--yes, New York City--to become a famous acquisitions editor. Never mind that there aren't any famous acquisitions editors, except maybe Judith Regan, that's what I was going to do. Never mind that I love my car and the open sky and grass and trees and that I hate people. Never mind that I grew up in towns with populations like 2,700 or 3,600 or less. You can see how this could not work. Unfortunately, I had never failed at anything I really, really wanted to do and I never considered that I wouldn't be able to live in New York. So, after a short six weeks, I left New York City and hid in my aunt's basement in New Jersey and hoped that I would just die or something so that I would not have to move back in with my parents yet again. While I was in New York, one nice thing happened to me. The Divine Ms. B. and Miss J.'s dad came up for a convention and he took me out to dinner. It was the kindest thing. Once I was in New Jersey, another nice thing happened. Miss J and Ms. B's mom called and said that I should just come and stay with them in Columbia, Tennessee for a little bit, just to get my bearings. So, it wouldn't be like I was going home to live with my parents forever. I'd just be dropping my stuff off there before I headed down south to recuperate. On a whim, I sent my resume around to some places here in town and this place called me in for a couple of interviews and hired me. It was all very fortunate. Now, I have a very cool job where I read for a living. Some of the stuff I read won't get read by anyone else. And some of it will. When I tell you about things I've read, keep that in mind. I'm bound to be a little biased.