A lot has been written about Tony Perkins and myself and I figured Let's get it straight. I had a relationship with Tony for two to three years but those are only threads in the tapestry of my whole life.

The trouble with anyone when they're unhappy or in a relationship they recognize is not working but don't know what to do about is that they can't see farther out than that. If the relationship is not working if what was there isn't there anymore you have to do something about it.

So on May 1 1987 at Gary's invitation I agreed to see him one last time - to confront him face-to-face about his sincerity and with the intention of ending our brief relationship.

I think that the two of them have been doing this for a really long time and it is more like sport. Yes they would love to find a lasting relationship but it's not likely to happen the way they are going about it.

My work is about life as you and I experience it. You're either lucky or you're not lucky either your relationship works or it doesn't.

When I was in my 30s I was at the end of a long-term relationship and going through a very hard time. I'd had about 15 different addresses and a series of relationships. I thought 'It's time to have a look at yourself.'

This is the point being missed by readers who lament Liquor's lack of hot sex scenes probably because they aren't old enough to understand that a passionate relationship could be about anything other than sex.

Favored Nations is a long-term commitment. Our hope is that those who are passionate about real musicianship will want to hear and own most of our albums. We will set out to attain the same direct relationship with our customers that we have with our artists.

We have to understand how the extremists got the way they are. Without that kind of understanding we'd never really get to know them. I put in nothing about their childhoods. But what I have put in is stuff about the weird symbiotic relationship between us and them.

Sometimes you can forget about who you are in a relationship. But you can also be inspired by the person you are with to become something you always knew you wanted to become.