What TV shows are your current favorites?
My wife and I only watch pay cable. Currently, we’re into Entourage, Big Love, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Californication, Brotherhood, and Weeds, although the latter is on probation. We’ll try pretty much anything on HBO and Showtime, and sometimes we pay dearly for our loyalty, such as when we recently gave a four-episode benefit of the doubt to Tell Me You Love Me. While watching that show, I’ve spent more time staring at scrotums than in the rest of my life put together – and that’s counting my own.
Is Groundhog Day really your favorite movie or was that just the favorite of your main character? Why do you like it so much?
Setting aside all the standard disclaimers (i.e. my favorites list gets constantly rearranged over time and according to my moods; the whole concept of favorites is kind of childish, etc), yes I think Groundhog Day is The Greatest Story Ever Told. It is both very funny and very profound, two things I like to pretend that I am. It’s about a smart, selfish, impatient guy who learns – the very hard way – to give without regard to what he might get in return, to see the beauty all around him, and to cherish each day as if it were his last. That pretty well sums up my moral code, and if I manage to learn even a tiny fraction of what Bill Murray’s character does, I’ll die with a smile on my face. (Unless I happen to check out like Elvis – you can’t smile if you can’t poop.)
What are you working on next?
I’m writing a spec screenplay, the first one since I was a student at UCLA 25 years ago. I had the good/bad luck back then to become a professional Hollywood writer-for-hire before I graduated, so I never developed the discipline of writing without externally imposed deadlines. I think I subconsciously believed that I couldn’t do it, until I sat down and wrote Keep It Real. With that under my belt, a mere screenplay doesn’t seem so daunting. To further ease the pressure, though, I’ve given myself permission to write something really crappy. And I won’t stop until I do!
Do you plan to write another novel?
Yes, definitely. I love writing in my own voice, and not worrying about how it’s going to be interpreted, or by whom. It’s hard to make much financial sense of the book business – I would advise anyone who’s in it for the money to get a real job instead, like selling Girl Scout cookies. But with a little luck, I’ll find the time and inspiration to do it again – all it took last time was getting cancer.
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