Posts Tagged interview
Mike Resnick on His Writing
Posted by admin in Literature, commerce on March 3, 2010
Business of Science Fiction
Normally I try to incorporate the interview subject’s latest project in the interview headlines, but Mike Resnick has so many books on the cusp of being released (or already released) that I did not want to focus upon only one. This email interview covers a wide range of books, including The Business of Science Fiction: Two Insiders Discuss Writing and Publishing (Set to be released on March 6); The Buntline Special (Pyr) and Blasphemy–as well as a variety of other topics. My thanks to Resnick for his time and to Kevin J. Anderson for putting me in contact with Resnick.
Tim O’Shea: When you and Barry Malzberg started collaborating on columns a number of years ago, did you ever envision it could grow into a full fledged book?
Mike Resnick: It wasn’t why we began the column, but once I saw that it was popular and continuing, yes, I always assumed there’d be a book.
O’Shea: Are there any central ways that you hope readers benefit from The Business of Science Fiction? Are there certain books that helped you when you were first starting out as a writer or were the lessons you learned something that had to be experienced firsthand–not in a book?
Resnick: We’ve got a combined 90 years in the field, we’ve each written or edited over 100 books, we’ve each edited science fiction magazines, I’ve been a publisher, Barry has worked for an agent…there’s simply nothing we haven’t seen, no scam we can’t describe, and we’re secure enough at this point in our careers that no one’s likely to blackball us for letting unpleasant truths out of the closet.
Daryl Gregory on The Devil’s Alphabet
Posted by admin in Literature, Uncategorized on February 17, 2010
The Devil's Alphabet
A couple of weeks ago, after I interviewed comics writer/prose novelist Chris Roberson over at my other online home, Robot 6, we got to discussing novelists that he would recommend to feature here. One of the first names he mentioned was novelist Daryl Gregory. Roberson was kind enough to get me in contact with Gregory who was willing to discuss his latest novel, The Devil’s Alphabet. Before starting the interview, let’s delve into part of his bio: “Daryl Gregory’s first novel, Pandemonium, appeared from Del Rey Books in 2008 and won the Crawford Award for 2009. It was also a finalist for several other awards, including the Shirley Jackson Award and the World Fantasy Award. His second novel, The Devil’s Alphabet, appeared in November, 2009, and was named one of the best books of the year by Publisher’s Weekly.”
Also, here’s some background on the novel itself: “Switchcreek was a normal town in eastern Tennessee until a mysterious disease killed a third of its residents and mutated most of the rest into monstrous oddities. Then, as quickly and inexplicably as it had struck, the disease–dubbed Transcription Divergence Syndrome (TDS)–vanished, leaving behind a population divided into three new branches of humanity: giant gray-skinned argos, hairless seal-like betas, and grotesquely obese charlies.
Paxton Abel Martin was fourteen when TDS struck, killing his mother, transforming his preacher father into a charlie, and changing one of his best friends, Jo Lynn, into a beta. But Pax was one of the few who didn’t change. He remained as normal as ever. At least on the outside.
Having fled shortly after the pandemic, Pax now returns to Switchcreek fifteen years later, following the suicide of Jo Lynn. What he finds is a town seething with secrets, among which murder may well be numbered. But there are even darker–and far weirder–mysteries hiding below the surface that will threaten not only Pax’s future but the future of the whole human race.” My thanks to Gregory for his time and thoughts.
Tim O’Shea: In addition to naming you in a manner that allowed you to avoid being called junior, do you think your parents unintentionally helped make your name more marketable for when your began your writing career?
Daryl Gregory: Wait, would my name be more unmarketable as a “junior”? Growing up, I thought it was pretty lame as it was. That’s why for my first publication — a science fiction story that appeared in “Rambler Roundup,” the Marion Hills Elementary School newsletter, when I was in fifth grade — I used the pen name “James Clark Savage,” Yes, I’d been reading a lot of Doc Savage.
We should explain to your readers that my father’s name is Darrell — note the subtle change in spelling — and that he also has a different middle name. So I’m a phonetically near-junior. The marketing genius of this — and I have to believe my parents planned it — is that it gives me something to talk about in interviews like this one.
Rich Juzwiak on VH1, FourFour Blogs
Posted by admin in episodic TV, pop culture on February 10, 2010
VH1 Blog
I first learned about pop culture blogger Rich Juzwiak while listening to the Frenemies episode of This American Life in which he appeared. From there I started reading his Celebreality coverage on the VH1 blog, as well as his overall pop culture coverage at his own site, FourFour. I recently caught up with him via email to get his perspective on many aspects of pop culture. Juzwiak can also be found here on Twitter. My thanks to Juzwiak for his time and thoughts.
Tim O’Shea: What kind of fortitude do you have to do the in-depth analysis of reality TV like you do on a regular basis–what keeps it interesting for you?
Rich Juzwiak: I think as a culture, we’re all quite taken with ourselves as a culture — there’s a sort of cultural narcissism that goes on with our obsessive need to report about ourselves and then report on that reporting. Bottom line: human beings are fascinating, especially at their behavioral extremes, which reality TV invites.
Deanna Caswell on First Ballet
Posted by admin in Literature on February 3, 2010
First Ballet
Sometimes I walk into an interview situation. Such was the case a few months back when I walked into a bookstore where Deanna Caswell was promoting her storybook/picture book for children, First Ballet (Disney-Hyperion). After chatting with Caswell for a bit, she told me about her children’s book (written by Caswell, illustrated by Elizabeth Matthews), which captures a child’s first trip to the theater. Before starting the email interview, a bit of Caswell’s bio:
“…she is privileged to share her diverse experiences and love of learning through children’s books, newspaper and book articles, and posts for Little House in the Suburbs (under the pseudonym Ivory) while caring for three kids, four red-headed chickens and two miniature goats.
Deanna’s first book, FIRST BALLET (Hyperion) arrived October 6, 2009. Her second book, TRAIN TRIP (Hyperion) arrives Fall 2010. She can also be found in the 2009 and 2010 Children’s Writers Market.” It was a pleasure to discuss the challenges of getting published and her work in general.
Tim O’Shea: Along the road to writing First Ballet, you had several attempts at other manuscripts. To be exact, as you detail: “From February 2005 (when I started writing) to April 2007 (when I got my first sale), I wrote 30 manuscripts and had 150 rejections.”
Did you ever feel like losing track of the number of rejections to ease the sting?
Deanna Caswell: Over 100 submissions in two years is a lot to keep track of, but my crit partner and I were submitting as precisely and as often as possible. We didn’t want to send the same manuscript to the same publisher twice! That meant that we had to have spreadsheets (or handwritten notebook paper lists in her case. HA!) We had a record whether we really wanted to know the count or not.
Claire Small on How Do You Like Love?
Claire Small (Photo: Valerie Fremin)
In researching an upcoming Peter Bradley Adams interview, I learned about the music of Claire Small, and found myself drawn almost immediately to her songwriting and voice (the latter of which reminds me of Shawn Colvin). I love Small’s succinct and effective bio: “Claire Small is living out her musical adventure that includes leaving, losing, loving and moving to Texas to sing her heart out.” This spring (May 18, 2010 to be exact) will see the launch of her third release, How Do You Like Love?, for Freedom Records. But in the runup to the May release, Small will be offering folks the chance to buy pre-release packages very soon. Also to whet listeners’ appetites, Small recently revealed that the album’s title track (“How Do You Like Love?”) will be available to download for free sometime in February. She also will be opening for Asleep At The Wheel for a few shows in Arizona, and then returns to Austin to play the Cactus Cafe on Feb. 13, 2010, with Terri Hendrix. My thanks to Small for her time and thoughts.
Tim O’Shea: What was the big attraction to move from Nashville to Austin, Texas a few years ago?
Claire Small: I actually moved to Houston first to be with someone I was in a relationship with but only stayed there about 5 months. When things started to not go so well I knew I had to leave but I didn’t want to go back to Nashville. In 2006 I had been to Austin to play ACL Fest and really liked the city. It seemed so laid back and the people were really nice and very into live music. So, I thought I would go and check it out on my own and stay a week to see if I liked it enough to live there permanently. I haven’t left since.
Deborah Beale on Using Twitter to Preview Tad Williams’ Shadowrise
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on January 24, 2010
Tad Williams' Shadowrise
As damn fine a writer and editor that Deborah Beale is, I consider her equally great as a marketing genius. I’ve written before about some of her and husband/business partner/writer Tad Williams marketing ventures before in this post from last October. I recently joined Twitter (find me here as Talkingwithtim) and have started observing how folks that I respect utilize it to their advantage. This March, Volume 3 in Williams’ Shadowmarch series, Shadowrise, will be released. To whet the appetite of fans anticipating the book’s release, Beale is twittering (as MrsTad) excerpts from the book. The most recent series of tweets started on January 23. I had to ask Beale a few questions about the effort, and she was more than happy to oblige me in this mini email interview. My thanks to Beale for her time and efforts, as always.
Tim O’Shea: How did you come up with the idea to start sharing excerpts from Tad’s new novel, Shadowrise via Twitter?
Deborah Beale: It wasn’t a flash-bang moment; it just occurred to me sometime back that it would be a cool thing to do. I was waiting for a finished manuscript from Tad, and I wanted to fit in with the publishers wishes too, which means streaming something close to publication date. Now, of course, I’m wondering who else might be doing something like this. There was one fiction-experiment last year, I can’t remember the details but it didn’t end well. I’m just throwing stuff out there for our followers and mailing list (who got a free short story for Xmas.) And I’m having fun with it.
Jamie S. Rich on Film Criticism
Posted by admin in Film, episodic TV on January 13, 2010
Many folks that I have met in the comic industry are multi-tasking, multi-talented people. Case in point: writer/critic Jamie S. Rich. When Jamie S. Rich is not writing graphic novels (his and Joëlle Jones’ You Have Killed Me made my top books for 2009 at Robot 6), his critical analysis can frequently be read at DVD Talk or at his own blog, Confessions of A Pop Fan. I recently email interviewed him to get some of the thinking behind his critical analysis.
Tim O’Shea: In a recent post, on the topic of best of 2009 movie lists you wrote: “in case you’re not sick of best-of lists yet (I’ve avoided most, and it’s still like a lot of white noise to me)”. What annoyed you about from a most of the best of movie lists from 2009?
Jamie S. Rich: It’s nothing about any specific choices, it’s just that there is so many lists out there now, the chorus has gotten too large. There is no definitive voice, no standards. I mean, there are now lists just to keep up with the lists, a conglomeration of top 10s and top 15s and the like. What with the end of the decade countdowns also going on, I am just at a loss to see what purpose it serves anymore. I’m not a big fan of crowdsourcing, because I think that it eventually kills the formation of legitimate opinions. Even before that was a term, you could see how certain lines of thinking took root and critics and fans alike would start parroting one another. It’s something I wrote about when I reviewed the most recent DVD release of The Godfather trilogy. People don’t bother to watch the third one and react to it in their own way, they already have the common thinking to draw on. It’s like, right now, I can log on to Facebook, and I’ll see ten updates in my friends list about Avatar, and all say the same thing. “Looked great, but the story was boring,” like this is some new opinion of great value. Okay, sure, and…?
Anna Trodglen on Radial Cafe Art Opening
Tea Party: This is a tea party depicting the fictional meeting of Beatrix Potter (rabbit), Tasha Tudor (corgi dog), and Louis Wain (cat). Beatrix Potter is of course the beloved creator of Peter Rabbit. Tasha Tudor was an American children's illustrator who loved to paint her corgi dogs. Louis Wain was a famous cat artist of the Victorian era and painted from an asylum for forty years. I wanted them so much to meet and share animal stories. This is a very special painting for me.
Anna Trodglen (or her musical pseudonym Grace Braun) is a name you likely recognize from the Atlanta music scene, given that she has fronted the band DQE since the mid-1980s as its singer/songwriter. In addition to her musical pursuits, Trodglen is a painter who is in the final stages of prepping for her January 8 Art Show at the Radial Cafe (1530 DeKalb Ave NE Atlanta GA 30307), where Trodglen’s paintings and prints will be on display. In addition, as detailed at a recent Facebook announcement: “Anna and her DQE bandmates Dugan and John will be performing a short acoustic set at 9pm. There will also be a raffle for a free custom painting. Food and wine will be served. Anna’s paintings will be hanging at Radial Cafe through the month of January.” We also got a chance to discuss the children’s book she is currently working on, City Mouse, Country Mouse. My thanks to Trodglen for her time and to my friend, Dugan Trodglen (Anna’s bandmate and husband) for helping make this interview feasible. Each art piece in this interview is accompanied by a description by Anna. The art opening is this Friday, January 8, 2010, from 8:00 to 10:00 pm at at Radial Cafe.
Tim O’Shea: How did the Radial show come about?
Anna Trodglen: Susan Archie, the talented and well known graphic artist and designer, introduced me to the idea and gave me the contact information.
O’Shea: The show will feature your paintings and prints–how long have you been painting pieces in this style? How many pieces will be in the show–and was it hard for you to pick which pieces of yours would appear?
Trodglen: I have been painting exclusively animals (mostly cats and dogs) since July of 2008 when I began working with dogs at a doggie day care, boarding and grooming facility called Paws Playhouse. I initially painted the dogs of Paws Playhouse to decorate the facility and amuse the workers and clients. Gradually with support and encouragement I began to paint in this style more and more frequently until it became a life calling. There will be between fifteen and twenty paintings in the show of various sizes, depending on what will fit. The paintings chosen will be based on the smile factor- what I think will make me happiest and hopefully the viewer as well. It is never too hard to pick. I generally keep the best ones of my dog Jack for myself, Like Dorian Grey, Jack has a painting in the attic and…
Aviva Kempner on Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
Posted by admin in Film, episodic TV on December 30, 2009
Gertrude Berg
Whenever I discover a gap in my television/pop culture culture, I have an immediate need to fill that gap. Aviva Kempner’s documentary, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, was an important person and project I knew nothing about. To fill this information chasm, I contacted Kempner for an email interview. As detailed at the Cielsa Foundation website: “Ciesla Foundation produces and distributes award-winning films about strong and important, but often unknown, Jewish heroes. Its mission is to educate and inform audiences about social and public interest issues of the past and present through storytelling and filmmaking….Award-winning filmmaker Aviva Kempner, whose credits include Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, Today I Vote for My Joey, The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, and Partisans of Vilna, is Ciesla’s director and founder. Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg chronicles the “humorous and eye-opening story of television pioneer Gertrude Berg. She was the creator, principal writer, and star of The Goldbergs, a popular radio show for 17 years, which became television’s very first character-driven domestic sitcom in 1949. Berg received the first Best Actress Emmy in history, and paved the way for women in the entertainment industry.” My thanks to Kempner for her time. I hope the interview motivates you to donate to the foundation and to Kempner’s efforts.
Tim O’Shea: I’m sure you have many ideas for subjects to pursue, but after wrapping 2002’s Today I Vote for My Joey how many concepts (ballpark figure) did you consider and set aside before deciding upon Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg?
Aviva Kempner: I was thinking about doing a few dramatic scripts and did not get much further than research. I also had a couple more documentary ideas but none were fundable at first glance. Another one did receive research funds and am now happily back on working on that film on The Rosenwald Schools. Once I went to the Jewish Museum in New York’s exhibit of Jews Entertaining America and saw the Molly Goldberg living room I knew that was my next film project.
Vicki Delany on Winter of Secrets
Posted by admin in Literature on December 23, 2009
Winter of Secrets
The week of Christmas, I can think of no better interview to feature than this one with Vicki Delany on her new book, Winter of Secrets. As described at Delany’s website: “Siblings Wendy and Jason Wyatt-Yarmouth and their friends are in the peaceful mountain town of Trafalgar, B.C. enjoying a two-week vacation of skiing, drinking, drugs, and sex. Tragedy strikes the group of privileged students when two of the group crash through the ice into the frozen river.It’s Christmas Eve and the snowstorm of the decade has settled over the peaceful mountain town of Trafalgar, B.C. Constables Smith and Evans have a busy shift, attending fender-benders, tumbling pedestrians, and Christmas tree fires. At the stroke of midnight, they arrive at the scene of a car accident: a vehicle has gone off the snowy road into the icy river. An accident, agree police, coroner, medics. But when the autopsy reveals a shocking secret, Constable Molly Smith and Sergeant John Winters are plunged into the world of sexual predators, recreational drugs, privilege, and high-living.”
Winter of Secrets is the third installment ” featuring Constable Smith, Sergeant Winters, and the town in the shadow of the glacier, Trafalgar, British Columbia.”
A first chapter PDF of the book can be found here.
Tim O’Shea: Your website includes the phrase: “Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels”. Do try to set all your novels in Canada? And in terms of writing, do you think your Canadian background/experience allows your novels to have a perspective and nuances that readers cannot get from non-Canadian writers?
Vicki Delany: I do set all my books in Canada. About all I can say I bring to my books is a Canadian perspective on Canada. And that’s a good thing. We in Canada are overshadowed so much by our so-much-larger neighbours that it can be difficult to get our stories told. Even Canadian publishers sometimes prefer books set in the U.S. because they think that has greater market appeal. Toronto is often a stand-in in movies and TV shows for places such as New York, but it is not often allowed to be itself. Canada and the U.S. are alike in many ways, but there are significant differences also and I think everyone benefits from knowing how the rest of the world works. For example, my police officers in the Constable Molly Smith series are not allowed to carry their guns when out of uniform so they will not walk out of a restaurant into a gun battle or some such. Gold Digger is set in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, which was about as far from a Wild West town as you can get; the North-West Mounted Police being firmly in charge. That sort of thing, and other nuances, are why I think it’s valuable for Canadian people to set their books in Canada.