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the next big thing meme

My friends Michelle and Ariel have both warned me that I'm about to be tagged with the Next Big Thing blog meme so here I am getting right out in front of it. Ha!

Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:

What is your working title of your book? It's called Dark All Day.

Where did the idea come from for the book? It's a short story collection so the ideas are from all over. Who the hell knows? Most things come to me (at me?) as I walk to work -- then, like a crazy person, I go over to a post or a tree and write myself notes in one of the little books I carry. People stare as they drive by, what's that guy doing?

And then sometimes things just come right to/at me. Like the note that literally blew up against my boot this morning. I've blurred out the names of the parties involved but, from what I can make out, someone *really* needs to stop making threatening remarks at work.


Just before that I found a toonie, staring up at me like a million dollars from the sidewalk. Why does found money make us so happy, out of all relation to its value?

And then, when I finally got to work, I found this dinosaur picture waiting for me at my desk.


I like the purple one in the middle. Haughty or miserable. Now -- is that sun bleeding hearts, or is the blue dinosaur about to find out that some romances are doomed from the start?

What genre does your book fall under? It's literary fiction, which is a fancy way of saying that all I know how to do is make people laugh or disturb them.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? C and I have watched a lot of Boardwalk Empire lately, and I really like Kelly Macdonald and Michael Shannon. Macdonald, in particular, has a face built for worry.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Dark All Day is about the end of things, about the way things fall apart.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? It's being published by Mediumless and will be distributed by Small Press Distribution and Ingram.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Some of these stories have been kicking around for years, but I only really pulled it all together last spring.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? I don't know how to answer that (what, do I have a fucking Masters in Creative Writing or some other bullshit?), so I'll only say that my favourite book of short stories is Joyce Carol Oates The Assignation.

Who or what inspired you to write this book? I belong to the Ban Righ Writer's Group, which meets every Tuesday, and every Tuesday I know I need to have three new pages of work. Inspiration is bosh, deadlines are everything.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? It should be a beautiful object -- each of the forty-one stories is illustrated in ink brush.

Now I have to tag five other writers, so why not Kelli, Susan, Leah, Peter and Adrienne. They will do what they will.
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