Where are you from and what inspired you to become a television writer?

I’m from Erie, Pennsylvania, where I grew up wanting to write novels – long, Dickensian novels. (Obviously not the most social kid.) But as I got older, I realized the novel business just wasn’t what it used to be… in Victorian England. TV writing felt like a natural move for me because, just like novel writing, I enjoy telling stories in long form and really developing each character to his or her full extent.

What Spec did you write to get into the workshop?

Shameless

Who is your all time favorite television character and why?

Ally McBeal has always been my spirit animal. She was kind of a train wreck in a lot of ways, but she was okay with not having everything figured out. And even if things were messy in her personal life, she would still show everyone up in the court room.