Interview

What was your first job as a journalist?

Cop reporter

Have you ever used a typewriter?

All through college.

Who's your favorite fictional journalist?

Stephen Colbert

Why did you become a journalist?

I had this crazy notion as a misfit teen that I wanted to be a cross between Woodward and Bernstein and Hunter S. Thompson.

What story are you most proud of writing or working on?

The stories that came together in my book Dixie Lullaby.

What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?

Listen. Learn. Write.

What's your favorite drink?

Water

When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?

Swimming

Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?

At the moment, The Atlantic.

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