I want to write stories like Tom Waits writes songs.

It's so obvious he loves each of his little characters, no matter their faults, and that love is evident in his voice when he sings. You can almost picture his gravely words and piano strains picking up the drunkard, the hooker, the lonely wanderer and cradling them, rocking them to an almost-peaceful sleep. He has a way of coloring the tragic romantic, of shedding a sympathetic, rosy light on so many degenerate scenes, and it makes you empathize with his characters almost to the point of tears.

If I could even capture a sliver of the same love and respect for those people considered by many as disrespectful, I will be so grateful.