Growing up as a product of the black civil-rights movement, I had a lot of different models for black weirdness, whether it's Richard Pryor or James Baldwin or Jimmy Walker.

Growing up devouring horror comics and novels, and being inspired to become a writer because of horror novels, movies, and comic books, I always knew I was going to write a horror novel.

I started writing in the '90s, so I was free to just have an eccentric career and not conform to some idea of what a black writer has to do. I didn't have the burden of representation.

For me, choosing between fiction and nonfiction is really only about picking the right tool for the job.

It would make me a lot happier if I could meet up again next year with as many friends as possible from all over the world who I've met during my career. That's where the great opportunity lies, for me personally, in our role as World Cup host.

The different parts of my career seemed to take part in different rooms, albeit in the same house. It was just the way things were and I didn't actually think much about it at the time.

I have high expectations for the people who work for me. I figure that if they work really hard and do a good job on one of my campaigns or in my office, that experience will serve them well later on.

I want to have the same success in my acting career as I did in my boxing career.