Michael Lowenthal and I often call each other “the one that got away.” This does not refer to our romantic lives but rather to the fact that although I attended Lesley University’s MFA program, where he is a founding member of the fiction faculty, we never worked together while I was a student. Luckily for me, our friendship blossomed after I graduated in 2017, when I reached out to him to see if he’d help me polish up my stories, essays, and later, a novel. His editorial feedback is much like his writing style—fiercely and often brutally honest.