I made up my mind that I'd get out of that place and I didI learned that if you want to get somewhere, you just make up your mind and work like hell til you get there. If you want to go somewhere in life, you just have to work till you make it.

let's do it for Johnny

Sixteen years on the streets and you can learn a lot. But all the wrong things, not the things you want to learn. Sixteen years on the streets and you see a lot. But all the wrong sights, not the things you want to see.

There isn't any real good reason for fighting except self-defense.

California is like a beautiful wild kid on heroin, high as a kite and thinking she's on top of the world, not knowing she's dying, not believing it even if you show her the marks.

You know what the crummiest feeling you can have is? To hate the person you love the best in the world.

I never base a character on someone I know. You can get ideas from real life, but every character you write is some aspect of yourself.