Eventually, I had a friend who got into a workshop I’d always wished I could go to, and I was so jealous. Of my friend. Even though I knew that my friend had worked hard, and earned this good thing, and I had never even tried to get in there. And then one day I told my friend half-jokingly that I was so jealous of their good thing, and my friend said, “Don’t be jealous! You should apply!”

And that was a turning point for me. I realized that my friend’s success was not a marker of my failure, that only not actually making progress of my own was a sign of failure. And I had this sudden very obvious realization that I would feel so much better if every time a friend sold a story, or got an award, or what have you, I could honestly say that I was happy for them. It’s been about two years, now, and they’ve been my most productive two years as a writer. I still don’t have any professional sales, but I know I’m working in good faith, and that makes a huge difference.

Julia: If it worked for you that’s awesome. I have seen it work that way for lots of people. And, yes, I think “friendly” is the key word.

I am definitely inspired and energised by talking writing with my writer friends. But I never feel like I’m in competition with them because we’re not. In fact, some of our fans go off and read our friends’ books when they discover the connection. I strongly believe our successes create more readers for all of us.