"When did you first consider yourself a writer? Was there any particular moment or stimulus that..."

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When did you first consider yourself a writer? Was there any particular moment or stimulus that brought on this realization?

ER: I only consider myself a writer when I’m actually writing. You know, as opposed to when I’m just talking about what I’m going to write or teaching a writing workshop or procrastinating by watching Orange is the New Black or don’t have my hands free because I’m expressing milk with a beastly breast-pump.

VL: I became a writer at about thirteen years old. I wrote my first story—a bit of a Stephen King rip off—and sent it out to a magazine. It was rejected, of course, but it didn’t matter. The rejection was just as much a part of the job as the writing.

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- Geeking out over this Tennessee Williams Festival interview with Emily Raboteau and Victor Lavalle.