Of course, there are distinct disadvantages to surviving a scandal:
You lose your friends.
You lose your trust.
You lost all credibility in what you dearly love.
You begin an intimate, five-day relationship, seducing a slick-barreled gun that sings your name.
But after a while, you unwrap your lips from around the gun. You grab your pen. And you write. Because when it's all said and done, that is what you do.
Write.