Recently, I received a text from a close friend who had gifted my novels to her grandmothers, one of whom said, "She must be extremely smart to be able to write a novel." And while I most certainly appreciated that gift, I was also relegated to the fact that in order to write a good story -- to be a writer -- one doesn't necessarily have to be "extremely smart;" instead, it helps if one is damaged. J. Anthony Lukas said, "All writers, I think, are to one extent or another, d