Rant Casey used to say, "No matter what happens, it's always now..." Talk about cryptic. I think what Rant meant was, we live in the present moment of reality, and no matter what's come before, no matter how much we loved a person or a dog, when it attacks us we'll react to that moment of danger.

What do you do when your entire identity is destroyed in an instant? How do you cope when your whole life story turns out to bw wrong?

Some writers research in order to write. I write in order to research topics that interest me. Especially if I can meet with other people, in forums from illness support groups to phone-sex hotlines, and learn what other people know best.

some soap opera, you know, real people pretending to be fake people with made-up problems being watched by real people to forget their real problems.

If you died right now, how would you feel about your life?

My life has been about living like a monk and looking like a priest so that people will come up to me and tell me their most appalling stories. They have to make their confession to somebody, and it might as well be me.

The best fights don't occur between strangers. They occur between friends who trust each other.