I love a book that turns out to be a kind of treasure hunt. It’s like playing a video game with Easter eggs that unlock secret scenes or powers.

At a recent local author event, the host asked our panel of writers how we balance reader expectations and desires with our own vision for the story and characters. The more pointed version of this question is: what, if anything, do authors “owe” readers?

I settle in with my coffee, travel jug of water, a pastry, my earbuds, and my MacBook Air, and sigh contentedly. I am here to think, to create. To drink coffee and turn caffeine and atmosphere into words, paragraphs, and chapters. I am a magician who conjures books from research, coffee, and imagination. My workshop is a coffee shop. It’s a magical, wondrous, wonderful place.