I have defeated this earthworm with my words. Imagine what I would have done with my fire breathing fists.

Fame is empowering. My mistake was that I thought I would instinctively know how to handle it. But there's no manual, no training course.

You can go outside and have a straightener on the cobbles with your fists or you can go shoot kids, ... I've encountered the direct aftermath of gang activity in Venice [Beach] with my mum, walking down the street, where we got caught for 12 hours, we couldn't get my car out, because two kids had been shot dead and one of them had landed with his head touching the tire of my car.

Poetry is breathing words that gives a reader pause.

I am a writer. Imagining what someone would say or do comes to me as naturally as breathing.

You'd imagine Mick would be the happiest person in the world, and yet a lot of the times he isn't.