I'm sorry if it felt like I was running away! That is, indeed, my standard joke when someone who seems to be a fully grown adult tells me they've been reading me since childhood, since in my own timesense, my entire published life feels very short.

But I'm pretty sure I wasn't running away -- more likely just moving on to the next thing (it's often the case that people who book me in for talks schedule things immediately after, like faculty meet-and-greets to justify the expense of paying my way there, etc, and I try not to leave people standing around).