In some ways, a novel isn't as structurally rigorous as a screenplay or a TV show, which have finite real estate. In a novel, you can more deeply illuminate a character's interior and get away with digressions.

I'm one of three brothers.

Listening takes practice, and it takes patience. But I promise, if you listen, your story will be better for it.

Where I came from, no one was a writer.

When you're writing a novel, you're still telling a story. But you're telling it very differently. It's a craft like anything else.

What is absolutely true is that any good [Television] series has a specific voice. And I think that voice is almost exclusively the domain of the executive producer. . . . As a staff writer you're not being called upon to be the great creative person. You're sort of called upon to understand the characters and their voices and put them through certain paces.

We're not allowed to carry out harsh interrogations anymore, but we're allowed to fly over somebody's village, without due process, and kill them all?