Tell us about Good Morning, Destroyer of Men's Souls. 

Good Morning, Destroyer of Men’s Souls is a memoir about living alongside alcoholism and addiction. It’s also a cultural history of codependency. It’s about feminism, care work, boundaries, and the messages about romantic love and motherlove that inform our choices and our lives. 

Do you have a bird story or favorite feathered friend?

In the days before I got sober (and before I had kids), I was visiting one of my best friends in Paris. She had a small parrot named Martini, who was called Marty for short—a name she pronounced adorably with a French accent. Sometimes he got out of his cage and flew around the apartment. One night my friend and I went out and got very drunk, then passed out in her living room. She slept on the couch, and I slept on a makeshift bed of blankets and coats on the floor. In the morning when I opened my eyes, I saw that Marty was perched right next to me, staring at me. I looked at him and, as though worried we’d had relations, blearily said, “Did we…?” My friend and I still laugh about that to this day.

What is your most memorable reading experience?

I’ve had so many! What a tough question. In recent memory, I would have to say reading to my kids from Rad American Women A-Z by Kate Schatz. I really enjoy reading to them about people in history who have fought oppression or led otherwise iconoclastic or fascinating lives. Their faces actually light up every time they realize you don’t have to have a boring life if you don’t want one.

What makes you most excited about Good Morning, Destroyer of Men's Souls?

The most exciting part of the process so far has been hearing from readers. The shame can be so potent for those of us in unhealthy relationships with addicts or alcoholics, and I was really keen to write something that made others like me feel less alone. Getting messages from readers and knowing this book is connecting with those who need it is profound and genuinely thrilling.

To tweet or not to tweet?

I tweet, and I’m generally a fan of Twitter, although I’ve found it difficult to deal with lately. I wouldn’t say I’m good at it, but it’s my preferred social media platform. I’ve met so many writers on Twitter, and it’s comforting to know that I can log on anytime and find other writers talking about books, cracking jokes, and despairing about this life we’ve chosen.

What books do you have in your bag right now?

My Meteorite by Harry Dodge; My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite; Luster by Raven Leilani; Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

Can you tell us your favorite rejection story?

I’m probably the rejector and not the rejectee in my favorite rejection story, if I have one :) Here’s one: Just before I wrote this book, I was panicked about my financial situation and surviving in the Bay Area, and in a tizzy, I applied for a job at a financial start-up. I went through a rigorous series of interviews, had to do a writing and editing test, the whole thing. After a couple weeks, they offered me the job. As soon as I started earnestly imagining that life—skirt suit, commute to the Financial District—I knew I couldn’t do it. I turned it down. It was a rush to say no to that future. A few weeks later, I booked a trip to the desert, where I wrote the book proposal that became this book.

What literary journals do you love?

Triangle House; No Tokens; A Public Space; The Paris Review; so many more!

What shakes your tail feathers?

Reading is everything. I also love trying to beat my times in my running app, doing yoga, acquiring miniature mid-century furniture and other decor and working on a dollhouse with my 8-year-old, making fresh whipped cream, listening to loud music, learning new cooking and baking skills, making syrups and shrubs for non-boring non-alcoholic cocktails, talking to other writers, and hiking, although I almost always get lost.

What advice do you have for fledgling writers?

Read, read, read. Read widely and all the time. And have some faith. People love to warn other people away from writing, and I think that can be a form of gatekeeping, and I find it very annoying. 

What other eggs do you have in your basket right now?

I am working on a new nonfiction project and toying with a fiction project, or the possibility of a fiction project (I can’t believe I’m even writing that).