Q. What is your motto or maxim?

A. Look for humor, find life.

Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?

A. A genuine grasp of music, almost any instrument would do.

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?

A. A modest little house on a modest, remote little beach (New England coast, thank you), where I could hear pounding surf most of the time..

Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?

A. Without question, perfect happiness includes a steady diet of humor. I am pathologically addicted to the hearty laugh, and spend much of my life in pursuit of it. Probably, the midst of a genuine, helpless fit of laughter is the point of emotional nirvana for me. On a broader level, I have found my periods of deepest satisfaction were when my kids were younger, I was totally consumed in taking care of them every day, and my writing life was going really well too. That feeling of having a strong sense of purpose every day, feeling that purpose is a mighty one (thank you, George Bernard Shaw), and feeling that you are doing a pretty good job of it all, that state is pretty hard to top. These days, my kids are at the point of not really needing me as much as I would like them to. That has, frankly been a tough adjustment for me. But adaptation is probably life's most useful skill.

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?

A. I'd love to run a publication like The Onion.