My office has a lot of pulp novels in it, and I also collect carnival prizes from the 1930s and 1940s. They’re very vivid and painted in wacky colors and decorated with sparkles. I have about 10 or 12 of them. My favorite one is a hula girl, a little girl with an enigmatic face. The light coming into my room catches the sparkles. I also have a little statue of Freud. These are like totems. I think we writers are very superstitious. We don’t know why it’s working when it’s working, so we attach cause and effect. I’ll think, “It worked when I looked at the hula girl, so look at it and everything will be fine.” It sounds a little woo-woo, but I try to think what made something work and then I walk it back.

MEGAN ABBOTT