1. What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
I've been to the Herman Hesse statue in Düsseldorf. I've been to Edgar Allan Poe's apartment in Philadelphia (apparently it was a brief tenure there.)
2. What is the first book that made you cry?
Probably MOSTLY HARMLESS.
3. What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?
Well, there are a lot. Probably publishers not paying contracted payments and Kickstarter owners never delivering their product. But there's also sexual and racial harrassment. I don't know. It's hard to say.
4. Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Sometimes A, sometimes B. It varies day to day.
5. What are common traps for aspiring writers?
I think the main thing is believing your book is your baby. Your first book's not going to be perfect, so don't obsess over it until you think it is. Write five or six books instead. Similarly don't be shocked if your first book doesn't get all the attention. Maybe it'll be your twentieth. Just keep at it.
6. Does a big ego help or hurt writers?
It's a prerequisite to feel like your thoughts are important enough for other people to want to read. It's only a problem if your big ego isn't accompanied by a crippling sense of self-doubt, which makes you constantly strive for perfection. I think both elements are necessary for good writers.
7. What is your writing Kryptonite?
Almost anything. TV, video games. It's all so alluring.
8. Have you ever gotten reader’s block?
Oh, sure. Sometimes I have to slug through a book for months because I keep putting it down.
9. Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
Are you kidding me? With this ridiculous name? I assumed it would be mandatory. Strangely enough, my first publisher talked me out of it. She said if she were writing something she'd want it under her own name. So I said what the fuck.
10. Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I don't really care if the reader gets what they want. The characters need to be well served. If that makes work original, so be it.
11. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?
Well, I don't, if that makes a difference. One symptom of my PTSD is a flat affect, aka I don't feel great highs and lows, just the consistently creamy middle. So hopefully not.
12. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
My collaborators Wile E. Young, Stevie Kopas, and John Urbancik obviously all help me improve my work. I also regularly commiserate with Mary Fan, Elizabeth Corrigan, Kimberly G. Giarratano, and a bevy of others. I like to think of all authors as my friend. Except that one dickhead. He can sit and spin.
13. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I'm not trying to do a DARK TOWER kind of thing. Basically each book is its own thing. But I have pondered how a few small hints in each book could connect them if it ever becomes necessary. In some cases I think it's impossible. For instance, it would be very difficult for THE GHOUL ARCHIPELAGO future and the EVERY KINGDOM DIVIDED future to co-exist.
14. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Start publishing in the '90s, you yutz! Don't wait until you're out of college and the army! The boom times are ending!
15. How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
It didn't really change my writing process, but it did significantly change my publishing process. Once you have work out there, selling the second, third, and fourth pieces become significantly easier. It's sort of like when you're putting together a piece of IKEA furniture with four wheels. Wheel one is a pain in the ass. Then by the time you've done wheel four, you're like "I'm the boss now. Why aren't there more wheels?"
16. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
Hiring my PA.
17. What authors did you dislike at first but grew into?
Oh, I dunno. I don't usually revisit authors if they don't catch me with the first book.
18. What did you do with your first advance?
I'll let you know when I get one.
19. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
One of my favorite lines is in LIFE, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING. Adams says "the ship hung in the sky much the way a brick doesn't." I often use that as an example of what novels can do that no other medium can, that sheer indulgence of language.
20. What are the most important magazines for writers to subscribe to?
Eh. A subscription to Publisher's Weekly would probably be useful since there are markets and agents you can only read about if you havea subscription. But most things can be found online for free with a little digging.
21. What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
Well, that's a push-and-pull sort of situation because in some ways my least appreciated novels are not my best. But I feel like EVERY KINGDOM DIVIDED never got the love it deserved. People actually often ask me why I don't push it more in the current political climate. My response to that is, "Why do you think I'm not pushing it?"
22. How do you balance making demands on the reader with taking care of the reader?
I don't feel any special obligation to take care of the reader. Is that something I was supposed to be doing?
23. As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
A Rigellian, of course.
24. What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?
Interesting question. Probably the courtesy of a heads up. But I think if you're a good writer they'll never know it was based on them.
25. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
Dozens.
26. What does literary success look like to you?
Millions of dollars, movie deals, mansions, champagne, caviar.
27. What’s the best way to market your books?
Get reviews and share them on social media. Prove that your work is woth reading because others have read it. Awards nominations and wins are also very positive.
28. What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
It varies. I do research quite a bit before and during writing. Probably dozens of hours for a single book.
29. Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?
No, but I don't really believe in the spirit. I guess it could be a spiritual practice if you were in to that kind of thing.
30. What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
Sex scenes apparently? That's the only thing I've been criticized for. But I've also been complimented for it, so I dunno. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and there you have the facts of life.
31. How long were you a part-time writer before you became a full-time one?
Forever, basically. since I was twelve. But I wouldn't say I'm a full-time writer now. Far from it. Certainly a professional, but I'm not making the bulk of my money from writing or anything.
32. How many hours a day do you write?
When I'm on? Two or three. When I'm off? Sometimes zero for weeks at a time. But them's the breaks.
33. What period of your life do you find you write about most often? (child, teenager, young adult)
I don't think I write about my life very often. In my one roman a clef it was my early to mid twenties.
34. What did you edit out of this book?
Out of SKINWRAPPER? Eh, I overdid it with all the pee globules floating around. There was too much dealing with urine and I think it drained (ha!) some of the tension out of the book.
35. Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?
It sounds trite, but Hodgson's THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND always makes me excited about the possibilities of the genre every time I read it.
36. What are the ethics of writing about historical figures?
Um, none, I think, unless they're still alive. Didn't ABRAHAM LINCOLN, FUCKLORD OF THE MOON prove that to us?
37. How do you select the names of your characters?
Laboriously. I want my characters to have meaningful names, but not so cutesy that it slaps you in the face, like how every werewolf character is inevitably named Lupin "Mooney" Lycanthrope. Sometimes it's as subtle as "this is a working class name." Other times the names do very heavy philosophical lifting. Jack Pasternak is one of my favorites.
38. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work?
Well, I don't make money from writing. I did one year, but not nearly enough for my bills. I currently have a full-time day job and I'm co-owner of a small business.
39. Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
Yeah, I read them all. Good ones I share. Bad ones I'm just happy to have. If you don't have bad reviews, you're not being widely read. I know some authors claim they don't read their reviews, but I find that difficult to believe. I think it's something that they think is important to pretend to say.
40. Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
Oh, yeah. Most people on pick up on two or three of the hundreds of Easter eggs I sprinkle throughout all of my books. I did a comprehensive list of the Easter eggs in BRAINEATER JONES once, and there were over a hundred.
41. What was your hardest scene to write?
That's a tough question. I'd say the toughest scenes to write are the boring, weight-bearing ones. Getting from Point A to Point B. If there's no zazz, no reason for it to be there except it has to be, those are difficult.
42. Do you Google yourself?
Every goddamned day.
43. What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?
This is an odd question. Like I get to choose? So could I just give up Brussels Sprouts or something?
44. What are your favorite literary journals?
Cemetery Dance, I guess. I don't really read a whole lot of them.
45. What is your favorite childhood book?
THE HITCH-HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY.
46. What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
Editing. Writing is relatively fun and easy, but honing the prose to perfection is a long, difficult process.
47. Does your family support your career as a writer?
Yeah, certainly they do, my girlfriend in particular.
48. If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
Read more. Write more. Same as being an adult.
49. How long on average does it take you to write a book?
I can do it in six months. I guess I've done it in a month, but the real work is in editing, which takes considerably longer.
50. Do you believe in writer’s block?
No. You've just got to either write the words or not.
Great post.
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