I was a teenage idol, but not the one that the girls would put up on their walls, like Fabian and Frankie Avalon. I was more cerebral, like a Roy Orbison or a Buddy Holly. I was one of the few who could write songs.

Howie Greenfield and I started writing music when I was 13 and he was 16. We lived in the same building.

I think I was put on earth to sing and play music.

I like Manchester - I've played it many times. The people have a lot of chein, a lot of heart, and the audiences are very receptive.

I see creative-writing classes as some sort of AA meeting. It is more of a support group for people who write than an actual course in which you learn writing skills. This support group is extremely important because there is something very lonely about writing.

A family can develop only with a loving woman as its center.

The public library my parents took me to in Fort Worth had the children's section next to the SF/F section, so I was reading adult SF/F at a very young age.

I'm a family man. I really enjoy being with my family.