What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
1. Read a lot, and read widely.
2. Write every day.
3. Find a few people with whom you can share your work, and on whom you can count to provide honest, tactful criticism.
4. Repeat.
That's the best I've got.
Where do you get your ideas?
I think what people are really asking when they ask this question is, "Is there something—a device or a ritual maybe—that inspires you to write fiction, which would also inspire me to write fiction?"
And the answer to that question is, "Probably not." The thing that triggers a story idea for me—a newspaper article, a snatch of conversation, personal history, whatever—isn't in all likelihood going to trigger the same story idea in you, or for that matter, vice versa. Sorry. I believe that good writing can, to a certain degree, be taught. Inspiration is more nebulous and individual.
Here's one suggestion: Try brainstorming with a friend.
Here's one other suggestion: Sacrifice a block of tofu to the God of Square Food. Wait patiently. No promises, but something may come to you. This is what is known in the business as the Agatha Christie Method. In order to gain access to all of the devious mysteries locked inside her head, the legendary authoress killed thousands upon thousands of defenseless soy blocks, and dedicated them all to the God of Square Food. He rewarded Christie with nearly a hundred novel ideas. Moral? You be the judge. Brutal? Undoubtedly. But consider the benefit accrued by the reading public as a whole.
What are some of your favorite books?
If you're planning on being stranded on a desert island, or locked in an unassailable tower, here are twenty-five or so books that I frequently and unreservedly recommend, and which should keep you occupied for a few months. I doubt they'll be very tasty eating, though, so you better concentrate on fashioning a spear or something (a bird-catching net you can poke out the portcullis?) before you get too wrapped up in the literature.
End of Story by Peter Abrahams, Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson, Last Seen Leaving by Kelly Braffet, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon, The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies, Bleak House by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Hard Times by Charles Dickens, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, I, Claudius by Robert Graves, Our Man In Havana by Graham Greene, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos, Pictures of Fidelman by Bernard Malamud, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry, America's Report Card by John McNally, Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie, Straight Man by Richard Russo, Love and Hydrogen by Jim Shepard, Voodoo Heart by Scott Snyder, Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone, The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh, The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis, Native Son by Richard Wright
Will you blurb my book?
As of this writing (8/30/07) I'm unfortunately too swamped to take anything else on. And that goes for you too, Philip Roth! Leave me alone with your countless blurb requests!
Will you read some of my writing?
See above. Sorry about that.
Where else can I find your writing?
Aside from in my book, We're All In This Together (Bloomsbury USA), my fiction, non-fiction, and reviews have appeared in The Bellingham Review, Book Magazine, the Boston Globe, The Dickinson Review, Harpur Palate, One Story, Paste Magazine, and Topic Magazine. I've also contributed to the anthologies When I Was A Loser and Bottom of the Ninth: Great Contemporary Baseball Stories, both edited by John McNally.
Who are your favorite superheroes?
My current top 5 is as follows:
5. Swamp Thing. Tragic, made of moss and roots.
4. Galactus. Strictly speaking he's not a superhero. But what he is, is a giant man in purple armor who eats planets, and that is so, so awesome.
3. Rorschach. Alan Moore's anti-hero makes Batman look like Fluffybunnyman. He is also an essential illustration of the obvious point that if superheroes did exist, the profession would tend to attract some seriously disturbed individuals. Most balanced people wouldn't wear the costumes.
2. The Shadow. Another deeply creepy hero. How creepy? So creepy that he has a system of pneumatic tubes throughout the city, connecting him with his ever-growing league of secret agents, all of whom owe the Shadow their lives. On top of everything else, his real name is Lamont Cranston. Best name this side of Boo Radley and Uriah Heep.
1. Captain Marvel. Endowed with the powers of six figures of Classical mythology (Solomon's strength, Hercules' wisdom, etc.) Captain Marvel is often confused with Superman, but they're really quite different. For one thing, Captain Marvel's transformation hinges on yelling out "Shazam!" For another, Captain Marvel has the lightening bolt on his chest, whereas Superman has the big S. Not the same guy. Fun fact: Captain Marvel was the favorite superhero of Elvis Presley.
What is your favorite baseball team?
The Boston Red Sox.
Why do you think that the New York Yankees hate kittens and rainbows so much?
I don't know. I don't think anyone knows, really.
You used to be my friend on MySpace, but now you're gone. What happened? Are we still friends?
First of all, we are still friends. We will always be friends.
Anyway, I just decided that one Web site was all I could handle.
I don't know what I should read, see, and listen to. Can you help me?
Yes.