PF Kluge, novelist

—and sometimes in the face of evidence to the contrary—I’ve believed that novels are the most important writing I could do. They’re demanding, they take time, they test your talent and patience. They whipsaw you: on some days, your rough draft is exhiliarating, comparable to the work of people you’ve admired. On other days, it’s self-indulgent crap that cannot be expected to make a claim on anyone’s time or money. So it’s a gamble: climbing out on the longest limb of the rottenest tree. But, though there’s always something to worry about—reviews, publicity, press runs, bookstore displays, paperback and movie interest—that moment when you hold a published book in your hand for the first time is unequivocally wonderful.