An SF author who reads only SF will have little new to contribute, but someone with a broader experience will bring more to the table.

For every SF reader of that period, Robert A. Heinlein was also a touchstone.

I wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember.

That's why editors and publishers will never be obsolete: a reader wants someone with taste and authority to point them in the direction of the good stuff, and to keep the awful stuff away from their door.

Genre labels are useful only insofar as they help you find an audience.

Now I have to motivate myself much more than I had previously.