I am so thrilled to share with you my conversation with Bridget Watson Payne. Bridget is Executive Editor for Art Books at Chronicle Books, and is herself also a writer and artist. Bridget is also my longtime editor at Chronicle. Bridget and I start our conversation by talking about her role as an editor – how she got there, what her job looks like and how she finds new talent. But we center our conversation on the topic of passion – she posits that passion is at the heart of most long term creative endeavors. Writing books requires it, having a creative career requires it, and engaging in months or years long creative projects requires it. We talk about what passion is, the benefits and pitfalls of passion, and what to do when your passion wanes.