I could identify with some of the following, as regards both The Book of Mev and Dear Layla….
“Some people may have thought that this book was too personal, too confessional.
But what these people think about me is none of my business.
I got to write books about my father and my best friend,
And they got to read them before they died.
Can you imagine?
I wrote for an audience of two
Whom I loved and respected,
Who loved and respected me.
So I wrote for them as carefully and soulfully as I could —
Which is, needless to say, how I wish I could write all the time.”
–Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing & Life