In my teens, I loved genre fiction—high fantasy, science fiction, and espionage. Tolkien, William Gibson,

John LeCarré were among my favorites. Also, every kid should read Watership Down.

In college, I read according to my majors, which were Spanish literature and my Catholic university’s

Great Books program, so theology, literature, philosophy, history of science, etc. I was a terrible student.

In my 20s, I worked for a video game magazine, where I came to respect games as art, and I squandered

the bulk of my free time trying to be an actor, but at least I read widely in drama.

In my 30s, I went to art school, where I explored prose forms and experimented in code, drama, and

street art. After art school, a lot kids’ lit to my daughter. Have you read Charlotte’s Web recently? It holds

up.

In my 40s, well, I’m still working through them. I like to think I’m open minded about my reading list, and

I’m actively seeking more poetry and narratives outside my cis-het male viewpoint.

I want the writer’s blood and guts right there on the page.