Sam and Patrick looked at me. And I looked at them. And I think they knew. Not anything specific really. They just knew. And I think that's all you can ever ask from a friend.

Part of the reason I wrote the book was I wanted to understand for myself why such good people let themselves get treated so badly.

That was always my hope that that is exactly what I would do. It was always part of the dream of this story - to write the novel and then direct the movie.

Do you always think this much? It's just that sometimes people use thought to not participate in life.

I sat down and tried to write a story. "Ian MacArthur is a wonderful sweet fellow who wears glasses and peers out of them with delight." That was the first sentence. The problem was that I just couldn't think of the next one. After cleaning my room three times, I decided to leave Ian alone for a while because I was starting to get mad at him.

I wish I knew. It might make me miss him more clearly. It might have made sad sense.

I love Twinkies, and the reason I am saying that is because we are all supposed to think of reasons to live.