However appalling to consider, however tedious to enact, every novel requires furniture, whether it is to be named or unnamed, for the characters will be unable to remain in standing position for the duration of the story.

When Rolling Stone handed me this crazy assignment to be in the studio with James Brown, they had the misapprehension that I'd written for them already just because I claimed my character had.

I had an all-Fear of Music iPod, just versions of the 11 songs from the record. No other songs allowed.

When people call something "original," 9 out of 10 times they just don't know the references or original sources involved.

So much of the effort that goes into writing prose for me is about making sentences that capture the music that I'm hearing in my head. It takes a lot of work, writing, writing, and rewriting to get the music exactly the way you want it to be.

As much as I care about historical context - I'm very eager to read a really great historical account.

Art is about eliminating almost everything in order to focus on the thing that you need to talk about.