My parents refused to care for my younger kids while I tended to my oldest with leukemia; I called my ex-husband, but he said: “You’re just a poor writer, deal with it”

hour I stayed with Kora was an hour I wasn’t earning.

Two clients were already quietly moving toward writers who answered emails faster.

Theo and Wyatt couldn’t stay home alone either.

With me living between the hospital and home, my income had dropped by half. Full-day care for both boys ran close to $400 a week, more than I was making now that work was drying up.

The math was brutal.

I had to be in two places ninety minutes apart, and I had one body.

That first night, I