I had just turned 28 and sold my first book, a travel guide for vegetarians, but I'd tell people about the day job that I didn't care about instead - I placed banner advertisements on the web for a search engine company.

I'm at my best when I'm being genuine and sincere, and reading my material straight up to an audience that wants to listen.

I first became familiar with Dave Eggers's work when I was living in San Francisco and enrolled at USF's MFA Program.

Whatever one thinks of Twitter, the Friday Reads hashtag is kind of a cool tradition.