And loss of control is always the source of fear. It is also, however, always the source of change.

When I was a screenwriter, I was doing it for mercenary reasons.

The past doesn't matter. People cling to it because it allows them to ignore the present.

I always wanted to write a book about LA, a big ambitious book. Nobody had ever really done it with LA- treating the city seriously as a major economic and cultural power, as the embodiment of 21st century America.

I think, living in America, we're so bombarded with God all the time that in certain ways I'm making statements against that bombardment, you know? I think it's crazy. I mean, I don't believe in God. I don't believe in anything. But I still think about it. And I still write about it.

It's the third book of the Bible, called The Final Testament of the Holy Bible.My idea of what the Messiah would be like if he were walking the streets of New York today. What would he believe? What would he preach? How would he live? With who?

Practice not wanting, desiring, judging, doing, fighting, knowing. Practice just being. Everything will fall into place.