When my husband introduces me to people, he says: “My wife is a writer.” When our close friends talk about me, among their own circle, they say: “Our friend, Charish, is also a writer.”

For the longest time, I wasn’t aware that this was happening behind my back.

Sure, I’ve had a long journey as a person “who wrote things.” I wrote poetry back in college, I started multiple blogs regarding literature, feminism, and popular culture… Hell, I teach writing. But I was not ready to just walk up to...