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I was a temp secretary for a long time, and I went at it with a passion, and I tried to do a nice job in all my jobs.

I worked also, doing things such as our paper route and, later on, waitressing.

I was bartending in Boston five, six nights a week, living in my grandmother's condo. By the way, I'm a really good bartender - that's the only skill I can confidently say I have.

And of course I didn't make any money from stand up for years, so I had temp jobs. That was the way I made money.

So I came home and I had a resume and everything, but the only job experience I had was just playing in bars and clubs on my summers off. So, I was temping and stuff during the day and playing music at night.

I was dishwasher, then promoted to chef in a local kitchen in a restaurant in Seattle, and I was working on a building site as well, putting in insulation and painting houses, and then doing some classes at a community college nearby.

I did quite a lot of menial jobs. I was a waiter, an inventory clerk touring round properties listing cups and saucers, and a laserquest marshal.

I was working in restaurants as a captain and as a waiter.

I did all kinds of things in order to earn a living.

I starved and slept on park benches. I wrapped myself in the pages of my manuscript to keep warm. For two and a half years I took odd jobs; nothing was going to deter me.