Daniel Woodrell — American Writer born on March 04, 1953,

Daniel Woodrell is an American writer of fiction. He has written eight novels, most of them set in the Missouri Ozarks. Woodrell coined the phrase "country noir" to describe his 1996 novel Give Us a Kiss. Reviewers have frequently since used the term to categorize his writing... (wikipedia)

Earned a bachelor's at 27, then an M.F.A. that is still completely unused and in mint condition, never taken out of the box.
I guess it's ridiculously romantic, but I wanted to be a full tilt, sink-or-swim writer.
As a high-school drop-out, I knew I wanted to write, but I wasn't overly confident that I was going to be writing anything serious. I was happy enough with the idea that I could be a penny-a-word guy and survive.
I didn't really expect to be coming to the Oscars.
There's an overlap between social-realist fiction and crime fiction - a sweet spot there.