After accumulating so many intense and memorable life experiences, what was going to grad school like?
LL: I think people should go to grad school after having lived and experienced life. In some ways, I felt like a freaking hillbilly — there were a lot of really smart, very academic, driven, competitive writing people. But I felt like I had some street cred there, which I certainly never had in rock and roll. I was in my late 30s when I went to grad school, and had a two-year-old, so just to get out of the house twice a week and talk to adults was an insanely happy time for me. I also had an opportunity to teach, so finally I was employable — which was good for me. C: You have spent some of the past few years working on a novel. How is that project going? LL: I got a bunch of the fiction book done, but have ditched it — it’s not something I want to talk about for two years. I found it going in some really dark places, so I’m not ready yet. Instead, I’m focusing on the essay collections. I guess in the world of publishing and marketing it’s death to call your upcoming work an “essay co
