I Find This Stuff Because I'm Not A Snob

OK, I am a snob, but I have a very wide interest area.

I love working with would-be writers - from college-age to post-retirement-age individuals who dearly and deeply want to become writers - and their most frequently asked question might be paraphrased as - "What's the one thing I need above all others to become a writer?" They're often surprised when I answer (as John Gardner did in his wonderful ON BECOMING A NOVELIST), "The perspective that only a serious education can give you."

I have an advanced degree, but the serious parts of my education have been self directed. But that wouldn't have been possible without the formal part.

You'll only find Mr. Simmons if you poke around the ghettos of literature. But go looking for him. "Ilium" is a treat.