You’ve created your own comic book called Jingle Belle. For those who aren’t familiar with it, what is the comic about and how did it come about?
I had gotten to know a lot of people in Los Angeles who were working in the film business and who were rather well known to the world at large and I was kind of wondering what their families thought of them. You might have a film director who's known for making wonderful movies that touch hearts and souls of the world over or you may have a comedian who makes everybody laugh, but what happens when they're at home and they are just dad? Do their kids see them the same way?

And I was looking around, not really to do a Christmas story, but a story that would kind of touch on those same feelings and I guess it just happened to be Christmas time and I was looking at a Christmas card from Steven Spielberg and his family and thought, "What if you took someone like Santa Claus, who also delights kids and use a story about his life?" Santa Claus, in popular mythology, has no children, but what if he did? My version of Santa was a bit younger than the traditional jolly old man and he had a teenage daughter and what if she was spoiled rotten? The idea that Santa gets along with every other child in the world except his own. He fell victim to perhaps overindulging his child as a lot of parents do and so she turned out kind of spoiled because, after all, who could give better presents than Santa Claus? So Jingle Belle is a teenage daughter and she's grown up with sibling rivalry for the rest of the world. But I never wanted the book to be hateful; I wanted it to be more fun than anything.

As if your resume wasn't impressive enough, you are now a part of one of the best show on television today, Lost. How did you get involved with the show, and what's it like to be a part of such a tremendous success?
I was approached by Bryan Burke, who works with J.J. Abrams, about the possibility of contributing to this new show they were doing. I went in and talked to Damon Lindelof and he pitched the premise to me. He said, "This plane full of people goes down on this island and they all have to learn to get along together. It's kind of live action Survivor - oh and there's a monster." Monster? Ooh, sign me up. I thought it was really great. They had liked my writing on things like Batman and I've kind of been all over the place in my writing, so they were looking for kind of a unique writing staff.

What sets Lost apart from most of the other shows out there today is the compelling story telling and the mystery involved with everything from the characters to the island itself. Talk to us about the process of working on this show. Did all of the writers sit down and write out the mythology of the island or was it something J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof had planned out in advance? How far into the future is the show planned out? Do you already know what is going to happen over the next few seasons or is some of that left up in the air?
Everything sort of hit the ground running and the show took a long time to sort itself out. I think that from the beginning, J.J. and Damon had definite ideas of where they were going to take the show and an overarching idea of where the show was going to begin and where it was going to end and a few key things along the way. Then we went into a long development process where we were all tossing ideas around to figure out the day to day of life on the island and who these characters were. So once we were picked up and the show started moving, Damon and J.J. had some long conversations about where the show would go and about the mystery element involved. Is every detail worked out in advance? No. But a lot of the big picture elements are worked out.

So can you tell us anything that is going to happen on the show?
Ah-hah. I'm sworn to secrecy about further Lost developments. If I let anything slip, a polar bear will be dispatched immediately to eat me.

The fans of Lost are like no other. As soon as a new episode is over, fans flock to message boards to try and figure out all of the subtle clues sprinkled in every hour of the show. People are literally watching frame-by-frame. Do you ever read any of them and, if so, do you ever shake your head at some of the crazy theories people have come up with?
I have been on some of the message boards and some of those theories aren't so crazy. It shows that Lost is a series a lot of people feel emotionally connected to, much the same way viewers respond to a Star Trek series or a soap opera. The characters become very real to them, so it's natural that fans would want to spend time thinking about what will happen to them. I'm sure there are a lot of great theories being generated about the Lost characters even as we speak, I just don't have time to keep up with them all.

How often do friends and family try to get you give away secrets?
Every week. I tell them my brain is mind wiped after every story session and reinstated each subsequent meeting, but that excuse is growing thin.

In your opinion, which fans are more obsessive – Star Wars fans, comic books fans or fans of Lost?
Actually, I've found old record collectors beat them all. I was at a record convention in Austin, TX about seven years ago, looking for some old Bob Wills 45s for my juke box. Every time I went near a table, the dealers would snarl and show their decaying teeth as they hugged the precious sides to their soiled t-shirts. How about that? I now have Texans, record collectors and Bob Wills fans pissed off at me, too.

You've won five Emmy awards. Honestly, is there anything you can't do? Talk to us about what it's like to be recognized at such a high level.
It feels good. A lot of good writers work years without getting much attention, so I feel very fortunate to have been recognized, either by myself or as part of a talented team.

Tell us something not many people know about you.
I once did the screams for Vincent Price in an episode of Tiny Toons. He was not in good voice that day having just recovered from a bad cold, so every time he had to scream in horror, I did it for him. I told him I was trying to give it an Edward Lionheart feel from Theater of Blood mixed with just a smidge of his Dr. Phibes.

"Oh, that's nice," he said kindly, as if talking to an overzealous fan, which I guess he was.

We've got one last thing for you here - word association. We'll just throw out a name and you tell us the first thing that comes to your mind.

Batman.
Cool.

Harley Quinn.
Fun.

The hatch.
A bunch of Japanese ninjas in suspended animation since World War II. That was actually my dad's original theory, but it was much better than mine, so I'm using it here.

4-8-15-16-23-42.
My measurements, but I'm not going to tell you where.

Paul Dini.
Misty's husband.

The future.
Exciting.

Interviewed by Joel Murphy, January 2006. You can find out more about Jingle Belle by checking out the official website.Lost is on Wednesday nights on ABC.