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Now, withJust Fly Away, he adds YA novelist to his stacked resume.
Why write from her point of view?
Credit: Brian Harkin
I was working on that book for six, seven years and could never quite crack it.
One day I was on a plane writing, and I was like, My dads an ahole.
He has this other kid across town.
And if shes going to New York… shes going to Maine!
Shes going to see her grandfather.
It was a really nice process, especially after struggling for so long.
How did you find Lucys voice?
I have no idea who knew my muse was a 15-year-old girl?
Youre liberated by being behind this accent.
I just understood her.
But it surprised me.
I probably wrote 100 pages before I took it seriously.
I said, I alreadyhavethis book.
I dont know what Im doing here.
Im just messing around.
Because you know, we play tricks with ourselves.
How did you decide to make the book a YA novel?
It was very different in tone and timbre than the other book that we were talking about.
It just sort of was.
Are you an actor-director who writes?
Or a writer who directs?
Theyre different manifestations of the same thingI locate myself in all three of them.
The first time I acted, I went, Oh, there I am.
And when I started writing [it was the same feeling].
On an overt level, what they have in common is storytelling.
But its more just an internal thing, where I feel like me when I do them.
Do you tend to rotate through your projects?
If you spend a lot of time directing, do you start to crave writing again?
I dont consciously do that, although I like to be doing at least two at the same time.
I like to have my brain active, thinking on different levels at the same time.
I dont like to be doing just one thing.
For years I acted and did a job and just waited for the next job.
I couldnt bear that feeling.
Theres just something wonderful about having characters in your mind when youre walking down the street.
Just Fly Awayis available now.
