She Was Sitting In My Front-Row Seat Holding My Novel — Smiling Like She Had Stolen My Life

the room, soft at first, then fuller.

It gave me three seconds to breathe.

Three seconds to stand inside my own body.

The moderator asked the first question, the one we had prepared.

“Why did you choose anonymity?”

I could have given the polished answer.

Privacy.

Art over celebrity.

The freedom to write without expectation.

Instead, I saw Graham’s fingers tightening continue reading …