I Blame It on Microbes in the Petri Dish

I tell people I became a writer because I was flunking physics at UMass Amherst, a menace in the organic chem lab (where I somehow destroyed two Bunsen burners in one semester) and was petrified of getting salmonella or gonorrhea in my nostrils because I was told the Petri dish in my hand needed to stay in the hood—was I some kind of moron?! Second semester, junior year, well on my way to earning a B.S. in Medical Technology, I flitted away to the English department and got back in touch with my true love—words. I’m not putting writing down. In fact, I think being a good writer is one of the most difficult professions you can undertake.