I’ve long had a passion for Ernest Hemingway. It began with The Old Man and the Sea and “Hills Like White Elephants,” both of which I read in high school. We used Hemingway as a model for writing spare prose and using dialogue to tell the story. These are skills I took with me as a writer, and I have since always felt an affinity for and connection with Hemingway’s style. He doesn’t let language get in the way of the story. He lets the story drive the narrative, and he gets to the point without letting description get away from him. I see him as minimalist, whittling away his drafts…