One of the loveliest experiences I get to have sometimes is talking with editors about my work. They say kind things like “yes, but what do you mean by this?” and “that’s really kind of out there…” and “huh…” a lot. And every one of those conversations grows into a deeper and richer story. There are also silences. Like when I told The Deadlands editor, E. Catherine Tobler, that I was writing a story about a small underworld demon who rescues the pets of the newly dead.

Long, considerate sile...