A New Monthly Column at Currency: The Culture Q&A

Starting today, I’ve begun a new column at Currency, an American Express-sponsored personal finance site geared towards the so-called Millenial Generation (aka those aged 21-32 or thereabouts.) Every month, I’ll be asking writers about their money and finance habits, mixing up questions about what big purchases they’re saving up for, what they worry most about financially, and how they juggle the writing life with fiscal stability (or not.)  First up is Charles Yu, author of the most excellent novel HOW TO LIVE SAFELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE:

Do people assume you earn a lot because you’re published? People either think I’m on the verge of being able to write full-time, or that writing is basically an unpaid hobby. The truth is that writing has contributed to our household income, but not anywhere near where it would need to be for me to even consider doing it full-time. But if I were only writing full-time, I’d feel a lot more pressure, and I’d miss the daily interactions with people.

Read on for the rest. And since this is a monthly gig, if you’re an author or publicist and are interested in being one of my interviewees, please drop me a line, with the following conditions: The slate for 2010 is booked, so I’m looking for books published from February 2011 onward. I need to know at least 6-8 weeks in advance so the Q&A can be timed to the publication date. And the book must be a good fit for the Millenial demographic (and the author either falls in that age range or is close enough to it.)