When I was growing up, I was always looking for the most willfully uncommercial music: Whether it was Captain Beefheart or Frank Zappa or King Crimson, that's what attracted me.
The mere fact of my novel being filmed means very little to me. For a long while after 'The Crimson Petal's publication in 2002, it looked as though Hollywood was going to adapt it.
I never thought for a second that anything I ever did was going to make someone cringe. That never occurred to me.
I cringe inside when anybody gives me something. I don't know why. I just get embarrassed.
I don't want to see old people doing rap or rock and roll. It makes me cringe.
When I read about young designers selling 51 percent of their company to someone else, I cringe. I want to say, 'Don't do it - call me first.'
There is too much acceptance of people saying, 'I am a math person, or I am an artsy person.' It makes me cringe.
Seeing myself on the screen makes me cringe. I understand that I am that way - pouty.
I sit down with my coach to watch past performances. But I can be very critical. I don't watch myself very often - it makes me cringe!
I am not very comfortable about dancing at weddings and New Year parties. Maybe it's because of the way I have been brought up; I wouldn't want my family to feel that cringe moment. Dance is an art for me.
I'm always dealing with this sadness. I don't want to be Morrissey or anything, but it is a thing I deal with it. Every day, when I wake up, I have to make a decision to fight this depression. That sounds horrible but I'm fine with it; it's who I am; it's my life. I try not to let it cripple me.
I've learned how my own perfectionism can cripple me.
I write an actual script rather quickly - a draft will take me two weeks - but I write a lot of drafts. My big thing is I don't re-read. When I write, I never re-read back. I'll send it, because if I re-read back, it will cripple me.
Hollywood does not write parts for people like me, an elderly gentleman, and when they find out you're crippled, forget about it. No, I'll never work again.
What good will a tax break do me if I'm crippled for life?
I was raised by a lady that was crippled all her life but she did everything for me and she raised me. She washed our clothes, cooked our food, she did everything for us. I don't think I ever heard her complain a day in her life. She taught me responsibility towards my brother and sisters and the community.
For so long, I was ashamed of my past, and I think that crippled me a lot in having confidence.
If I'd seen a grown man beating a crippled boy, of course I'd intervene. If my father died and left my mother destitute, it's your instinct to take care of her. So when I started to think about it in those terms, it started to make sense to me.
My life isn't that dramatic. My dad really loves me, he just can't talk on the phone. He's too crippled and shy, and that's almost harder. He's there and he loves me, and I try and try and try, it's just impossible to have a relationship.
There are some people who come to me for some illumination on their problems. I guess they feel I'm writing about some of the things they themselves are going through. But I don't usually have much help to give - there isn't much you can say to someone in the midst of their own crises.
