Americans don't need a metaphor for war. We have war. If anything, we use war as a metaphor for sports.

I have a lot of cultural references that have amassed in my brain like shrapnel over the years that are meaningful to me.

The few people who ask to have their photographs with me, I almost always say yes, except for a few circumstances, like when my family is around.

My memories of literary agenting are of a very happy time and there are surprising reminders of it coming back now.

I never stopped feeling abject terror until I got on television and went on a national ad campaign and realized, "I will be able to feed my children. I have somehow averted the destiny that awaited me, which is endless, crippling debt forever."

I have an unfortunate compulsion. I really would rather not do it, as it is very nerve-wracking and un-fun. But when it works, there is nothing like it.

We have all been empowered by the web: everyone with a keyboard can now effectively broadcast to a national audience. In a sense, it puts each of us on the same footing as the major media conglomerates, except for AOL, who now apparently own all our thoughts and teeth.