[5] His book City on Fire: The Explosion That Devastated a Texas Town and Ignited a Historic Legal Battle was optioned by Tom Cruise and Paramount Pictures.

His other books are: In Search of the Blues: A Journey to the Soul of Black Texas; Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life;[11] The President’s Counselor: The Rise to Power of Alberto Gonzales;[12] Locker Room Mojo; The Hidden City.

He then worked as a writer, editor and columnist at the three largest Texas newspapers – The Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News.

He covered regional, national and international events and issues, including strife in the Philippines, East and West Germany, the Soviet Union, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico.

He interviewed Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, Hillary Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Belushi, Ray Charles, Willie Nelson.

Random House editor Jon Karp asked him to write the first independent biography of George W. Bush, eventually published under the Times Books imprint.

He has been interviewed by Katie Couric, Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, Terry Gross,[17] Charlie Rose and others.

His writing is included in these anthologies: Merchants of Misery: How Corporate America Profits from Poverty; Literary Austin; Echoes of Texas Football: The Greatest Stories Ever Told; Men and Masculinity.

The writers Mario Puzo, Buzz Bissinger, Sir Harold Evans, Gail Sheehy, Douglas Brinkley, James Lee Burke and others have written "advance praise" for his books.