Novelists get to direct the perfect films. We get to cast every part. We dress the set exactly as we wish.

I prefer old books and find them more relevant. I dislike new books. It's like drinking wine that's not ready.

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'm a firm believer that there are no rules in art. Every trajectory is different.

Once you fall into habits, I think, you're dead as an artist. You have to challenge yourself and never rest on your laurels, never think about what you've done in the past.

All paths lead nowhere; choose one with heart...

I never take any notes or draw charts or make elaborate diagrams, but I hold an image of the shape of a book in my head and work from that mental hologram.