Cheer up all you ink-stained wretches of a dying breed, Molly Ringwald finds editing sexy.

Well, to be specific, she finds standing over the shoulder of her husband, the writer-editor Panio Gianopoulos, and watching him edit is very sexy.  Well, close enough. Maybe not enough to bring back editing in the Artificial Intelligence Age, but comforting just the same.

Somebody out there likes us!

Come to think of it, Molly Ringwald is pretty easy to like, too.

The actress, writer, book translator, jazz singer, former expatriate, mother wife was the first in a series of keynote speakers at the weeklong San Miguel Writers’ Conference and Literary Festival. Her Monday evening session had the easy grace of a fireside chat with an old and cherished friend.

In fact, those who grew up with Ringwald through her trio of John Hughes movies in the 1980s probably do think of her as a friend. Her trials were theirs, her broken hearts were theirs, her successes were theirs.

Ringwald’s life didn’t stop with the movies. In fact, if that had been her sole pursuit, somebody else would have been occupying Monday night’s stage at the HRM hotel in San Miguel de Allende.

“My 16-year-old self would have been shocked to be up here,” she told the audience of writers, aspiring writers, poets, retirees, and fans. Upon sitting down, Ringwald had looked out and exclaimed “Our Tribe!”

And indeed it is.

She was a writer long before anyone suspected her talents only began with acting – and that one at the tender age of three. Ringwald said she began writing in the 1980s but kept it to herself because the culture insisted actors “stay in their own lane, especially women.”

When she dipped her toes in the dating pool in those days, she invariably snagged a writer. “I dated a lot of writers,” she said. “I was just drawn to them.” Kind of like Marilyn Monroe, I guess.

In fact, Ringwald has married twice, both times to writers. 

Her own romance with writing started when her therapist suggested writing as a creative outlet to ease the pressures of acting and celebrity. And she took to it, writing essays and profiles of people whom she found interesting.

“But only recently could I say, ‘I’m a writer’ and not feel I have imposter syndrome,” she said, adding “Well, I’ll always feel like I have impostor syndrome.”

As the author of the well-received novel “When It Happens to You: A Novel in Stories” and the witty girls’ guide to growing up, “Getting the Pretty Back.” She has also translated two books from French to English, the novel, “Lie With Me,” by Philippe Besson and the memoir, “My Cousin Maria Schneider,” by Vanessa Schneider.

Understandably, Ringwald could have a lot to say on writing with no fear of anyone shouting imposter. And she did not disappoint.

She calls her own writing process “a very fluid thing.” Given the hectic and often unpredictable life of a working actress, she can’t commit to writing, let’s say, 5,000 words every day between 7 and 11 a.m.

“I’m always making a writing schedule and I’m always changing it,” she said. “Some of my best writing happens when I don’t plan it.”

One of the most potent pieces in her novel (which looks at betrayal from different aspects) is a letter. The inspiration came to her as she sat for hours waiting for establishing shots on a movie set.

“There’s no pressure when writing (like that). It feels like taking notes,” she added. “My process is getting out of my own way.”

As for a method to her writing among all the acting madness, Ringwald says she’s like a magpie. She writes down everything as it occurs to her in little notes, stories, and descriptive bits – all for good use later.

Her strengths? One, she feels, is the ability to summon her emotions when she writes about others. “I make people feel things,” she said. “My husband calls it my superpower.”

Indeed, in the course of the evening, Molly Ringwald stopped several times to gather herself as she recalled past moments and friends that sparked poignant memories. For one who has had a superb career in portraying others, the ability to feel so sharply is a superpower indeed.

Another strength she says, is the ability to see both the good and the bad in people and characters. She may start out writing a “ruthless” portrayal but when she circles back around, she finds it essential to flesh out the dimensions and complexities of one’s character.

“Be as truthful and honest as possible, but write with love,” she noted.

For example, in “When It Happens to You,” the characters Greta and Philip on whom the main betrayals are centered we left with unresolved futures. Clearly, some in the audience wanted to know what happens next – quite a compliment to the author.

Said Ringwald: “I’d like to believe they are still together. … And have more kids.” That elicited some sighs of relief. “I’m an optimist,” she added.

What’s in the works? A memoir on her decade spent “in exile” in France, a destination she retreated to when she felt her professional and public lives had grown stale, unmanageable, and uninspiring. 

Living abroad did the trick but writing about it has proven more challenging than she anticipated, even though “it is the book that was hiding in plain sight.” She’s deep enough into it to see an ending in sight. So that’s good news.

As for the future, she envisions the day when she can write, direct, and act in her own movie — “and maybe sing.” And why not?

Meanwhile, don’t look for a full-on memoir. Molly Ringwald has a lot more living to do before capping it all off with an autobiography. “Besides, I’m going to live to be 100,” she says with such a  charming smile that you think, “She may very well do just that!”