They didn't know what to make of it in Melbourne. They loved it, and they made it their own. But they did not fully have a sense of competitive academics.

You have continual suspense, unfolding letter by letter. You have all these ups and downs in your characters' fortunes. Success or failure is only seconds away, and it's in their own hands. You have character and action built right in.

One of the strategies for doing first-person is to make the narrator very knowing, so that the reader is with somebody who has a take on everything they observe.

At home, I dedicate occasional whole days to reading as if I'm a convalescent. The ideal place for this is the bath, where the body floats free. Books go a little wavy, but they're mine, so who cares.

I've gone out on limbs, flung far, and Forrest-Gumped my way into the center of the action.

You know I never used to be a bad flyer, but I did start to have a fear of flying after I shot a movie where I was terrorized on a plane. I made Wes Craven's 'Red Eye'. I don't think they're linked but it does make me pause and wonder if they are, so perhaps I will explore that in therapy some day.