I've always said I'm more influenced in what I do by artists, and how they work, how they think, and the freedom they're given to work and think, than I really am by other writers.

In life we often look to others for simple, but difficult answers, despite the fact that we have those answers ourselves.

The Los Angeles Air Pollution Control Board is established in 1946 in an effort to discover the cause of the brown cloud hanging over the city and decide how to combat and disperse it. In 1949, after intense lobbying from both the automobile and oil industries, and against the recommendations and position of the Los Angeles Air Pollution Control Board, the public rail system, which at one time was the largest in the world, and still serves a majority of the city's population, is decommissioned and torn out. It is replaced by a small fleet of buses.

I just think it's a great world to tell stories in, to tell cool stories: money, sex, fame, and scandal. Those are great subject matters to work with.

Ive never had any interest at all in being a journalist or writing some sort of historically accurate autobiography.

I think of how and why and what happened and the thoughts come easily, but the answers don't.

Be patient and wait. Your mud will settle. Your water will be clear.