“So I was in a bit of a rut, around 40, you know, midlife crisis, been there, done that. And then, I did some MDMA and went to a rave, and everything changed. It was fantastic….It’s great for creativity because it makes your brain work in different...
“Just try new things. I mean, my whole life has been fun because I was willing to try writing screenplays, try writing a novel, try lecturing on the brain. Don’t be timid about it. Go for it. You can do it…also, you will want to give up many times....
“And I said, I don’t know any editor. The only editor I’ve ever heard of is Jacqueline Onassis, and he said, she might be interested in this. And so he submitted the proposal to her…and that was it. The first time I went to her...
“…learning how to take what I did in screenwriting and put it in picture books…it’s such a similar media, really, with the pictures and the visuals…having to have those work well together and the magic that happens between those two...
“You could write the most academic piece of lyric. And if the music is absolutely emotional, it will tell us that something else is going on, and it gives something for the actor to act. Why is that so beautiful? How do you fall in love at first sight? How does...