Author and cartoonist Stephan Pastis is a creative shape-shifter. He left a legal career to create Pearls Before Swine, wrote the bestselling children’s book series Timmy Failure, added screenwriter to the list, and now has his eye on travel writing. In this conversation, he shares how he protects his creativity, listens for the joke, and occasionally gets so deep in the zone he has to double-check whether he’s wearing pants.

Got a hilarious question for Food Network star Robert Irvine or comedian Ben Gleib? Email it to [email protected] and Dan just might read it on the air.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices