I Could Have Written an Essay. I Wrote My First Mystery Novel Instead

By Andromeda Romano-Lax

Photo of Andromeda Romano-Lax by Adrianne Mathiowetz

I was a nonfiction writer—essays, journalism, travel writing—long before becoming a novelist, so when I witnessed some alarmingly toxic behaviors at a writing workshop six years ago, I thought, I’ll write an essay. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen people mistreated in a writing workshop, but it was a particularly strange experience involving an especially vulnerable group, including young writers and first-timer...