Wherein Sara explains how she gave up the lonely life of a soil scientist to become a writer

The beginnings of a new Ice Palace - photo by Scott F. Carroll

It took
exactly twelve weeks to decide I wanted to make a living writing –
the twelve weeks I spent working as a soil scientist in Gainesville,
Florida. I was twenty, with a boss who told me every Friday, “Only
thirty-five years to retirement.” Maybe that was his way of hinting
that this was not the career for me (kids, the career that seems fun
in college may not be anything close to fun when you’re
doing it forty hours a wee...