"Father's Day: A Journey into the Mind and Heart of My Extraordinary Son" by Buzz Bissinger

Jeff Glor talks to Buzz Bissinger about his book, "Father's Day: A Journey into the Mind and Heart of My Extraordinary Son"

Jeff Glor: What surprised you the most during the writing process?

Buzz Bissinger: Writing is writing, one step up, one step down, a terrifying churn until you go to the computer one day and feel a rhythm, a pathway of telling the story and pushing the narrative. I used to feel great excitement when I felt that. Now it's more a sense of relief that the book may not be so bad after all. In other words, there is nothing remotely surprising in the writing process except the older I get the harder it gets. The words don't come. Your brain goes blank. Sometimes I write a phrase that I love, then have the sinking feeling I have written it before. Because I have.

JG: What would you be doing if you weren't a writer?

BB: I always wished I was good with my hands, be able to build anything and fix anything. A master carpenter I guess you would call it. I like the idea of tuna fishing but I get seasick rather easily.

JG: What else are you reading right now?

BB: I just finished "The End," by Ian Keegan, about the last year of World War II, in which the refusal of Hitler to capitulate cost the lives of more German civilians and soldiers than in the previous four years. I am now reading Kate Boo's "Behind the Beautiful Forevers," about an impoverished settlement outside Mumbai that defies description except for Boo's exquisite ability to do just that.

JG: What's next for you?

BB: I honestly don't know what is next. Definitely not a book. The last one, "Father's Day," took a great emotional toll. I will continue to write for Vanity Fair and do my sports column at The Daily Beast. I will also do some e-books for Byliner, basically elongated magazine pieces.

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For more on "Father's Day: A Journey into the Mind and Heart of My Extraordinary Son," visit Buzz Bissinger's website.