Acting very quickly became a dream of mine, but the acting game privileges youth. It takes a while to build credits and, because of that, it's not the kind of career you can jump into in your 40s or 50s. The ship sets sail by then.

Working on a big-budget summer blockbuster with a built-in fan base is a dream come true for any actor.

It was a real sort of synergistic 'Aha!' moment when I started acting.

My dad was young; he went to work. But he'd been to war. He'd seen some of the world. It wasn't like he was going to be an extensive traveler or something. It didn't seem to be in his nature or in the nature of his parents or many of the folks in my family, really.

I was a big reader as a child. My father is a great book lover and a librarian, but he forbid me to read bad literature. I was not allowed to read Nancy Drew or books like that. I often say to him that me becoming a crime author is both a way of pleasing him and annoying him.

I think I was always looking for that perfect woman, who obviously doesn't exist. I wanted to be married. I wanted more kids. I'm a family man, at heart.

I love to see my family together. That's what life is about. It's about family.