Memoir is a weird genre for a reporter. You end up investigating your own memories, reporting out your past.

I'm trying to find out what's actually true, which is nearly always something, if not a world of things, that you can't read in books.

You're after something - not a story, but a certain, exquisitely intense encounter with beauty - and the only way to find it is to tiptoe past the dragon's cave.

Hawaii is the birthplace of surfing, and many Hawaiians or part-Hawaiians surf, but in the rest of the United States it's a pretty white sport.

I remember surfing in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, even Madeira, when local fishermen had never seen a surfboard before, and refused to believe that we could ride a wave on one.

The differences between the received wisdom, the standard version of events, and the facts on the ground may be subtle or they may be stark, even profound.

I always wanted to write. While I was on a long surf trip, supporting myself with various day jobs, I was working hard on a novel. My third novel, in fact.

Even wars, big conflicts that have drawn a lot of news coverage, sometimes seem to me to have a center that hasn't been described, that might yet be glimpsed if approached from some odd angle.

Completely committed to adapting 'Fifty Shades of Grey'. This is not a joke. Christian Grey and Ana: potentially great cinematic characters.

I once had a man break up with me. He said I was using him because right after making love I would weigh myself.

[I am] not even two bites into breakfast, and there are already nearly 25 sites that are tracking me. I have navigated to a total of four.

Audiences don't ever disappoint me, in the sense that movies I feel really good about, they usually feel really good about too.

Fear God. Love your neighbor. And shoot ducks.

As far as things I avoid, I always avoid following trends just because they're trends.

What matters most is that the people you work with share your values.

When you see the need, take the action.

No requirement of industry is so much neglected as operational definitions.

It is extraordinary how many emotional storms one may weather in safety if one is ballasted with ever so little gold.