A lot of things have been thrown at me in life, and I've got through it all without a rule book, taking it one day at a time.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I've always liked getting away with just a little bit of what you're not supposed to. Like my first book, Billy's Booger, got me in trouble with the principal's office.
I've only had two rules: Do all you can and do it the best you can. It's the only way you ever get that feeling of accomplishing something.
I've gone through a lot of stuff in my life so far. There are stories I haven't really been able to tell.
It's been a pattern in my life - when I get in trouble, I try to get out of it, since I was little.
What I think is interesting is that the more you do, you have to invent a book of rules of what you can do and what you can't do. And the very real danger is that if your book of rules becomes a book of cliches.
I keep one simple rule that I only move in one direction - I write the book straight through from beginning to end. By following time's arrow, I keep myself sane.
Honestly, so much of my book is about the best things in my life have happened since I'm 40.
I'm not trying to follow a set of rules and stuff. I'm just living my life.
I've always been a rule-follower. Even when I was a kid, I tried to do everything by the book.
I've had lots of ups and downs. I've had situations where I've gone against the rules, and I've lost everything.