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I always wrote - not about war, necessarily, but I always wrote stories. I tried to write while I was in Iraq. It's not really - I didn't do a very good job, and not about war.

I wanted to be a writer, but I kind of wanted to be a fiction writer someday, like 20 - 25 years down the line. I never thought I'd write a nonfiction memoir about Iraq.

I didn't get into writing to make money or get famous or any of that. I got into it to hit hearts, and man, when I get letters not just from the soldiers but from their kids, especially their kids, it makes it all worthwhile.

To understand a difficult topic like Iraq takes patience and care. Unfortunately, you rarely hear a patient, careful or thoughtful discussion of intelligence these days.

I think I may try and write something about my pretty extraordinary experience with the 101st in Iraq.

I've always tried to write about America. It's very worth a writer's effort.

It took me years of attempts and failed drafts before I finally wrote the elegies I needed to write.

Writing is making sense of life. You work your whole life and perhaps you've made sense of one small area.