Deep In My Heart It Still Feels

I Don't Miss Being A Reporter As A Job, But I Do Miss The Everyday Interaction With The Front Line Of Law Enforcement. I Still Have A Cadre Of Cops Who Keep Me Up To Date, But I Don't Have The Access I Used To.

Now I'm Writing About Contemporary Los Angeles From Memory. My Process Was To Hang Out, Observe, Research What I Was Writing About, And Almost Immediately Go Back To My Office And Write Those Sections. So It Was A Very Close Transfer Between Observation And Writing.

There Were A Billion Lights Out There On The Horizon And I Knew That All Of Them Put Together Weren't Enough To Light The Darkness In The Hearts Of Some Men.

I've Been Able To Write At Least One Book A Year For 20 Years, And I Don't Think I Would've Had That Kind Of Drive If I Hadn't Come Out Of The Journalism Business.

I Would Change Very Little Because I Have Been Very, Very Fortunate. A Lot Of Things Fell Into Place For Me Simply By Happenstance. When That Happens You Don't Really Want To Change Anything, Even If You Could. Editorially My Regrets Are Few And For The Most Part Minor. I Look Back On My First Published Book And Think I Held On To It Too Long, Babied It Too Long.