I see interracial couples all the time in Nashville. I'm a Jew in Nashville. I'm a gay person in Nashville. It's a non-issue in most of the time. That's a huge leap forward.

It's what I do well - I write about things that make people uncomfortable. That's probably the only thing I do better than my peers.

I want to do some fiction writing, I've had some pretty good luck with short stories, I'd like to do a couple of larger things.

I think I grew up, stopped worrying about what people thought of me, and whether things were going to turn out OK. I'm concentrating on doing the best work I can do and letting it go at that.

The best thing you can learn from the worst times of your life is that it always gets better. It may take a month, a year, a decade, but it will get better if you leave yourself open to it.

That's an amazing moment, the first time you hear yourself on radio. It's still thrilling.

I've always been an avid reader. If I don't have a book in the car, I'll stop and pick one up just to have something to read. I don't even remember learning to read.