David Bowie was my hero growing up
Sadly, I agree that true change often comes through pain, catastrophe or consequence and it certainly does in my stories. One of the reasons, I think, is that people are more likely to speak freely and speak the truth when under extreme stress. All too often we fool ourselves first which leads to fooling others, or at least trying to, whether we know it or not. It's often joked that it wouldn't be a story of mine without a hospital bed and that's probably true because I find that situations like that, with personal tragedy tend to bring out truths and emotions that otherwise would never have come to the surface.