I feel like having an actual taxidermy-ed mammal would get gross, like its hair would get dirty and stuff.

Fiction and screenwriting blend for me. I feel like being a TV writer/screenwriter has definitely made my fiction writing better, although I have less time to do it.

Horror is so basic. You'd get an adrenaline jolt from watching your mom get gored by a woolly mammoth. A horror movie gives you the adrenaline without having to have your mom get gored.

I love horror movies. I consider myself a horror author, sometimes.

I write out of enthusiasm. Momentum that comes from a new idea. Eagerness to explore. I also write out of fear - fear of losing an idea - fear of feeling stagnant.

In fiction, I have a residual guilt when I focus on story over language or mood or whatever - the more literary things. In screenwriting, I don't have that guilt because story is the only thing. Character, dialogue, everything else - they feed into and drive story.

Los Angeles is more hospitable to writers [Than NY]. It's less claustrophobic. It feels more unpredictable and dangerous, and the landscape is less structured. You see coyotes lurking all over the place. It just feels wilder and more dangerous.

Sometimes I try to meditate, which I hope will help, but it doesn't really. But lots of times my dreams have the seed of an intriguing story.

Yeah, most guys don't like to think about going to a bar with a girlfriend and watching her leave with someone else.

I don't think I've ever bench-pressed anything in my life. Until about two years ago I swam a mile almost every day. Then I stopped and I lost a lot of weight because my appetite was less. I'm not skinny now - I'm spindly. I eat an extremely simple diet - mostly salmon, avocado, feta cheese, chicken, eggs, peanut butter, blueberries, and quinoa.

I rarely exercise at all, except I have some hand weights that I'll lift idly while I'm watching TV. I did do some push-ups last week and somehow hurt my shoulder.