I flew across the country to sit at his feet. That night we talked of ecotones. That delicate space, a transition area between two ecological communities—the most interesting place for a character to be and where a story’s tension ultimately lies.

But it’s so excruciating to actually live there, I say. It is, he smiles, it is.

What he doesn’t say, but what I know: After a good fight, that is where we get our heart.