Billy Bob and Dave Robicheaux are very special kinds of heroes. They represent what's best in us. They have tragic proportions. Their denouement is brought about by their own commitment. I wanted to be a writer, so it's like being on board an airplane and realizing you're the only pilot, so you better learn to fly.
Art is cheaper than psychoanalysis.
You have to have your head on straight to create art. I was around people who had experienced great deprivation in their lives. It's a humbling experience to work alongside people for whom every day is a struggle. I'm still the same writer I was at 19. An artist has a vision that is given to him by someone else, something outside himself.