I consider myself the luckiest man in the world. I have spent a lifetime doing what I love.

What makes a story is how well it manages to connect with the reader, the visceral effect it has.

In these litigious times, if you're a beginner, it's becoming harder and harder to get your work to the people who might actually be able to hire you.

I hate the crazy, neurotic characters beyond a certain point.

When I'm my own editor, there's very little difference between the first draft and the final. I write what feels right to begin with. I rarely make any major changes.

I was a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age seven, my Dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. And I was hooked. When my eighth grade art teacher, Mr. Smedley, told me he thought I had actual art talent, I decided to devote all my efforts in that direction in the hope that I might someday get into the comics biz. I became an art major, took every art class my school had to offer. In college, I majored in Advertising Art and Design.

If a story isn't working, I'm simply unable to finish it. That's what usually tells me something is wrong.