Only once in my life was I on the edge of incivility. I do not like to be unkind.
I'm just not in a place in my life where I worry about something unnecessarily.
I try to make a point in my life to leave the cell phone in the car sometimes, to try to unplug as much as possible.
I don't think about a legacy; I think about my life, because I've had quite an unpredictable life.
'Presumed Innocent' was written over a six to seven year period with intervals in between where I was figuring out the end of the book and writing other stuff... My life as a writer was carried on against the odds. I had written four unpublished novels by then... as a writer of fiction, I hadn't gotten very far. I just wanted to do it.
The reality of my life is it's about 25 percent music, and everything else I do is so I can get that 40 minutes later to go play. And it is unquestionably worth every second of it.
My life has been a dream. If someone had to write a story about it, it would seem a little unreal. It's the kind of story I would read and say, 'Nah, that's not possible.'
It's unresolved conflict in my life that I have a lovely family and a risky job.
These are my friends, my family. It would be hell on earth to spend the rest of my life leading them into situations where some of them are going to get killed... but it would be worse watching someone well-meaning but incompetent or untrained double those deaths.
Thinking back, the majority of the conflicts I've had in my life have been a result of offering up my two unwelcome cents, crossing that line between constructive truth-telling and preaching.
Throughout my life, my mom, my dad, my grandmother - these were people who made sure that I had the right people around me uplifting me.
There are very few passions in my life - The man upstairs, family, and football.
I can honestly say, there was a moment when I was writing 'Upstream Color' where I fell so hard for what it was becoming that I couldn't think of anything else. I was absolutely secure in this story in the way I'm rarely secure about anything else in my life.
If you had looked at my life when I was 14 years old and said, 'Well, what's going to happen to this kid?' you would have concluded that I would have struggled with what academics call upward mobility.
What is my life if I am no longer useful to others.
I'm not cut out for that life; for sharing my life. Whether it's getting married, or having kids. That too drastically changes your life. Everything important to you becomes less important, because the child gains utmost importance.
I don't think of my life as a cliche, but I'm a cliche eccentric. Complete with a strange name - I mean, who's named Val? How many Vals do you know? I mean, really?
For my whole career, I've been a singer-slash-songwriter, even though I'm very thankfully known for my voice. Songwriting has always been a joy in my life, and to be recognized for it is extremely validating.
I don't know how many hills and valleys I've had, how many times I've had to refocus my world and my life and my career.
I have so much in my life. I want to be of value to the world.