"The indie bookstore community was the first place in the book world that I really found my people. I started working at a bookstore when I was in grad school, and I thought it would be a retail job I'd work until I had my MFA and got an office job. Instead, I found a career in bookstores, and really came into my own as both a reader and writer. Being a bookseller keeps me excited about writing because I am surrounded by other booksellers who are so passionate about what they read, and customers who are so hungry to talk books and find new favorites. Getting to interact firsthand with consumers and see their passion for the subject energizes me as a writer, especially when the business of publishing has me down."
--Mackenzi Lee, author of The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (#1 Summer Kids' Indie Next List Pick) in a q&a with Bookselling This Week. Lee, whose given name is MacKenzie Van Engelenhoven, is the events coordinator at Trident Booksellers & Café in Boston, Mass. (See our story about her here.)