A Conversation with Pam

* If I weren’t a writer, I would be: a ballerina or a paralegal

* Favorite job perk: Seeing my name in print

* Job pitfall: Having too many pens

* Political views: I’m pro-choice on cats—I think everybody who wants a cat should have one.

* I’m exceptionally good at: Spotting red-wing blackbirds along the side of the highway

* I’m exceptionally bad at: Whistling

* My first job: Waiting tables at a dive truck stop when I was 14. The owner was a mean old bag who pocketed my tips.

* My favorite writing assignment: The next one

* Worst writing assignment: A press release about plastic, battery-operated sump pumps. I didn’t know anything about sump pumps and still don’t, but I needed the $50.

* Can I tech? Reasonably well.

* Love life: Yes

* Three things that might surprise you about me: I own more than 1,000 vintage perfume bottles. I played guitar in a folk-singing group when I was in high school. I’m a member of Mensa.

* I wish I could have: More cats

* Still on my bucket list: Visiting Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. Also getting people to stop saying “bucket list.”

* Best career advice someone gave me: “You might write a piece of shit, and we all do from time to time, but that doesn’t mean you are a piece of shit.” (Thanks, Lynn Mamet Weisberg)