I devoted myself to writing for years without representation or a promise of anything. And there were times when I felt quite down about my prospects.

The brutality that can take place in a crime film heightens the tenderness that can also be there.

I don't have to go into outer space to write about an astronaut.

My M.F.A was in directing, and all the films I've made, for film school and after, I've written, directed and shot.

I would warn you that I do not attribute to nature either beauty or deformity, order or confusion. Only in relation to our imagination can things be called beautiful or ugly, well-ordered or confused.

It was not until Web comics that I saw stories about women and stories by women and things that were aimed specifically at female readership. It was just kind of this free-for-all that was achieving something amazing with creativity. That was where I got my start.

More people have more access to more readers for less money than ever before in history. It means a lot of dross; but it means a lot of very talented people can find and nurture a readership in ways that were not possible twenty years ago. From a creative perspective, that is all that writing is about.

I really never thought I was that good at film. And honestly still don't. My strength is language. My background is monologues and a certain kind of Brechtian spin on theater.