I surrendered to a world of my imagination reenacting all those wonderful tales my father would read aloud to me. I became a very active reader especially history and Shakespeare.

Novelists are not equipped to make a movie in my opinion. They make their own movie when they write: they're casting they're dressing the scene they're working out where the energy of the scene is coming from and they're also relying tremendously on the creative imagination of the reader.

I think humor is a very serious thing. I use it as a way of weakening the reader's defenses so that I can more easily take him to something more.

I think that some books are more successful than others to certain readers. People who read my books for the humor they're going to love one book. People who read my books for the mystery they might not like that book quite as much.

Well it's a humor strip so my first responsibility has always been to entertain the reader... But if in addition I can help move readers to thought and judgment about issues that concern me so much the better.

I think that different pleasures work for different readers - a friend of mine won't read anything that's not a cardiovascular sort of page-turner. I tend to care less about plot but I'm a sucker for humor and strangeness.

With humor it's so subjective that trying to think of what the ideal reader would think would drive you crazy.

Whether it's viewers of the show or readers of my columns and books I'm consistently impressed with their wit humor and insight. That goes for about 95 percent of the audience. The other five percent are why the 'Delete' option and restraining orders were invented.

Wherever my story takes me however dark and difficult the theme there is always some hope and redemption not because readers like happy endings but because I am an optimist at heart. I know the sun will rise in the morning that there is a light at the end of every tunnel.

I do insist on making what I hope is sense so there's always a coherent narrative or argument that the reader can follow.