I was a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age 7, my Dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. I was hooked.

Sometimes you're not even sure which of your stories were failures. There are things I've written that I thought were complete catastrophes when I finished with them that have gone on to generate some of my most positive feedback.

I try to find what makes even the worst, most despicable character sympathetic at his or her core.

I've never had to work out of the arts. I've always either been a writer or an editor, or something where I've made my living from doing what I love. You can't get any better than that.

I'm still a fanboy geek. I always will be. In many ways, if my work still resonates with the audience, it's because I'm still writing from the point of view of the fan, so I'm geeked out constantly.

I realized the only thing I owed my audience was my own judgment and my own best effort.

I'm a neurotic New York Jew by birth. Creating characters is second nature to me.