When you don't want to talk about it

On writing books — and the assumption that *you* are the open book.

This post is behind the paywall for members as it’s a personal piece, on the topic of being a writer, writing personally, boundaries, trauma-mining and vulnerability hangovers. Many writers, whether it’s non-fiction or fiction, are often expected to talk openly about their personal lives when promoting a book — so I’m answering some questions I’ve been asked by the community here: how do you decide how much of yourself to give? Where do you draw the line with what you share? If you write a memoir, is there an expectation that you must re-live all the painful bits in interviews?