When you're going off to prison for the rest of your life, a lot of people do feel the need to explain themselves to all the people they have known.

American writers, at least those of us who are fortunate enough to support ourselves in the field, are by and large a lucky lot.

You never know what to expect when you're a writer visiting a movie set.

I must be the last person online to have been struck with this realization, but it's amazing how the Internet has empowered hundreds of ordinary people, turning them into little Diane Sawyers and Anderson Coopers as they snap and blog away.

I'm accustomed to Internet forums where rudeness and incivility are the rule, where too many people seem to take pride in their insults.

There's always a slight tension when you sell a book to Hollywood, especially a nonfiction book. The author wants his story told intact; the nonfiction author wants it told accurately.