Getting personal

W've made no secret of the fact that I don't like talking about myself. That's a bad trait to have when you're an author, not just because we'res upposed to have enormous egos, but because the accepted practice seems to be to share everything you can about yourself, including what you had for breakfast, where you do your shopping, what you're wearing, and what you happen to be doing at this very second. Apparently, writing the book isn't enough anymore; the author's personal life has to be part of the entertainment now as well.This isn't a new complaint of mine. I've written about it before, most recently in an essay here. You'll notice that I didn't like the idea then. I haven't changed my mind; I'm just more serious about it this time.In the past, I’ve dealt with this by creating a thinly disguised fictional version of myself, also named “Mitchell Hadley,” also married to a woman named Judith, and also an author of books. It’s very thinly disguised; I don’t digitally enhance my…