I think, in general, it's better not to respond to reviews of your work.

I've always been a little bit more of a novel reader than a short story reader. I think the first books that made me want to be a writer were novels.

I think that the practice of writing every day was what made me remember that writing doesn't have anything to do with publishing books. It can be totally separate and private - a comforting thought.

I think the few writers who influenced me most in writing short stories are Alice Munro and Grace Paley. They're very different, and I can't do what they do, but reading them gives me hope that I'll learn something from them.