The best music happens when you have a personal connection to it. That same philosophy can extend to the instrument you hold in your hands: if a guitar means something special, you're bound to do great things with it.

When you break it all down, my punk rock is my dad's blues. It's music from the underground, and it's real, and it's written for the downtrodden in uncertain times.

A guitar solo in the same part of every tune - that's been done so much. I think solos shine more when you have them in specific and unexpected places.

These days, all we hear about is that the industry is in trouble. Everybody is so scared, but our mission statement is having no fear.

I travel, a lot, to research the locales for the books. I have professional contacts that I can ask questions of or show them scenes to vet.

Living in Georgia, I never wanted to model. But I had the travel bug big time when I was young. I think because I had an all-American look, I was great for catalogs. They constantly sent me overseas for editorial, but I would always come back with catalog jobs. I was fine with that. It served my purpose to see the world.

I was very fortunate to grow up with parents who love to travel, so I traveled from a young age. My dad's a heart surgeon and goes to conferences all over the world. By the time I was seven, I traveled outside the country for the first time. We went to Paris. The next year, we went to London, and then Brussels.

I've found that there's a lot to invigorate in any country or destination - it's all about how you look at it. I've never really had any difficulties anywhere I've been. As an athlete, I used to enjoy being on the road and meeting people.