I was raised in a heavily Catholic family. Early and consistent encounters with mysticism.

As someone with a novelistic background, I just didn't have much interest in creating stories by committee. I don't think you necessarily get the best story through that approach.

Often, what allows someone to behave heroically in dire circumstances is unpalatable in day-to-day life.

For me as a storyteller, I want to follow the characters and the story through what they organically demand.

I read The Conspiracy Against the Human Race and found it incredibly powerful writing. For me as a reader, it was less impactful as philosophy than as one writers ultimate confessional: an absolute horror story, where the self is the monster.

I made True Detective like it was going to be the only thing I ever made for television. So put in everything and the kitchen sink. Everything.

The Atlantic really gave me my writing career - even just the conviction to be a writer.