I think I would spend the first 30 weeks not writing, just clearing my head and seeing parts of the world I haven't seen and going back to places I have seen and love.

The characters I write about are very internal.

I feel I'm functioning at some level as a journalist because even though I write fiction, I'm trying to get the world accurate.

Momentum was momentum, whether you found it in music or on the street or in the beat of your own heart.

The writing ethic was influenced - when you have to write every day, there's no such thing as writer's block.

I love movies. Movies have influenced me as a writer.

A newspaper is the center of a community, it's one of the tent poles of the community, and that's not going to be replaced by Web sites and blogs.