Going into the hospital for something that was caused by just being overweight really struck a nerve. I didn't ever want to be in that pain again or have another scare like that. I was like, I really need to figure out what I can do to lose weight and get healthier.
The decision to use a pen name was nothing more than a desire to compartmentalise my life. However, I had not thought about an appropriate pseudonym, and since there's an abundance of anagrams in the novel, the idea struck me: why not use an anagram of my name? Hence, Shawn Haigins.
I wanted to be a writer first, and I struck out in the world to be a writer first, and then found stand-up as a more creative outlet, as a 3D way to be creative.
Two hundred years ago, our precursors in Haiti struck a blow for freedom, which was heard around the world, and across centuries.
And what always struck me about that war period was how even Churchill had to talk socialism to keep up people's morale.
I no longer believe that I'm going to be struck down by a punishing God.
We managed to get underway, and I don't know to this day why we didn't get struck or take a torpedo, but we didn't. We got outside of the exit of the harbor and we started dropping depth charges.
Edgar Degas's famous sculpture, 'Little Dancer Aged Fourteen,' served as my muse for 'The Painted Girls.' I came upon a television documentary on the work, and as someone who held the sculpture in high esteem and who largely considered ballet to be the high-minded pursuit of privileged young girls, I was struck by what I would learn.
I am struck by how casually we as a nation react to the carnage in Iraq.
I was learning 'Changes' at the time that my mom was sick and she was leaving me. And those last verses in that song, they really struck my soul, totally.
