Up and Coming Author - Christoph Paul

Up and Coming Author - Christoph Paul

A friend recommended that I checked out this Christoph character for an up and coming author interview, and after reading his poetry book, ripping apart most of the celebrities that we all hold near and dear, I'm glad I got the recommendation. I'm interested to see where this young man goes!

1. What comes to mind when you hear, "Mourning Goats?"

I think of girl goats getting milked and feeling sad wishing the milk would be for their babies not to make cheese. I do love goat cheese but that does have to suck for the goats.

2. For those who aren't familiar with your work, tell us a little bit about your first two books.

They are both humor books of high art getting extremely low like Lil’ Jon and Flo Rida low. The first book is a non-fiction and satire ‘The Passion of The Christoph’ I talk about managing a porn store while getting an MA (one of my favorite pieces is having a discussion with the porn patrons about Anna Karenina and of course Infinite Jest of Picking Porn Titles which is me going all David Foster Wallace on how to select the new releases and having a bibliography to back up the choices). There is also satire pieces that are writing related like ‘Ghostwriting Snooki’s Second Novel’ and ‘Old Dirty Bastard’s Self Help Book Proposal’. It is a combo of porn store stories and pop culture humor.

The other book “Psychoanalytic Celebrity Poems” was a collection of poetry that started with me showing my editor this collection of poetry that I referred with great pretentiousness as my’ 808 and Heartbreak’ (a Kanye West album where he whines about a girl) and my editor/publisher said it is hard to sell poetry books and I solemnly agreed with her and then joked I’d probably have to write a poetry book on celeberties for it sell. Then more as a dare and that morphed into a ‘marketable’ and creative idea I took my love pop culture and began to write the ‘celb poems’ book. I just ran with it was lucky to have Loren Kleinman a much more serious poet and talented poet to help edit it and now its getting a lot of love from poetry and non-poetry lovers.

3. On the cover of your first book, Passion of the Christoph, it shows your MA prominently, do you think an MA or MFA is important for a writer?

Absolutely not! The MA on the cover was the publisher’s idea as we’re making fun of the whole MA and MFA thing. It is satirical. I learned more at the porn store just reading the classics, writing when it was slow, and talking to the pervs then I did in workshops. I am a friend and fan of Anis Shivani and agree with a lot of his sentiments on MFA programs. Where I differ with Anis is I do think it’s good thing just because it gives writers a rewarding job that doesn’t involve selling gangbang flicks or working for the Department of Labor (which is actually more amoral than managing a porn store) but no I don’t think a writer has to get an MA and especially an MFA to be a writer. On a personal note, I have to say writing an MFA thesis paper was torture and a waste of time especially when I want to write an actual book and get a band going. I left with just the M.A.

4. As a musician, do you find that writing prose and writing music has a lot in common, or are they completely separate to you?

That is a good question. I’ve gotten similar questions but the way you worded it has my wheels turning. They are the same in that they both have limitations. In songs I have 4 to 8 chords, two verses, a chorus that repeats twice and maybe a bridge. In prose, I have an idea/story and a certain amount of word count with a beginning, middle, and end. The difference is writing prose feels more active to me—it just flows. While song writing I can only describe as fishing—your just fucking around with guitar chords until you catch something that clicks and then you do the same thing with a melody. I don’t outline a song, but prose I do; I’m more ‘hands on’ with prose. I joke that Norman Mailer got it wrong ‘Song Writing’ is ‘The Spooky Art’ prose is just being prepared and hitting the beats.

5. You've released two very different books, what do you consider your writing style?

Literary Low Art? I don’t know, I did one reading and a playwright I really respect called me a genre of my own. Someone else said it was like Nabokov meets Tucker Max, which is unique but I don’t if that’s good though but I never really read Tucker. I am all over the place but I think I am fine with the style and label of ‘humor writer’ for better or worst the people who read my stuff laugh. I feel confident and at my best when I’m writing humor.

6. Do you like giving readings? How do you go about getting opportunities to read, especially in NYC?

I love live performance in general. I would read and play music every night if I could. To get a reading, it is usually knowing somebody who hosts one but I will state the one thing NYC has above other cities is a great open mic scene. You will see professionals at these open mics’ testing their material out. Major shout and love to ‘Penny’s Open Mic’ where I’ve read and seen a lot of top-notch playwrights, comedians, musicians, and poets show their stuff and/or workshop it. The place is always packed.

7. What's your writing schedule like? Every day? When the mood hits?

I write at least 6 days a week, the mood always hits. I try to write as much as I can. I’m very proud of the work ethic and stamina I have built up in the last 4 to 5 years. My philosophy with ‘jobs’ even has revolved on my writing: find one that can pay me enough that I can sneak writing in the day and do music at night. So far so good. The Porn Store and The Department of Labor were both perfect.

8. Have you noticed location playing a part in your writing? You're from Florida and currently living in New York, do you think that changes how you write?

Not really. It’s funny I didn’t hit my stride until I moved to New York City but I think that is just a coincidence. In many ways it is harder to write here cause there is always something going on. I’ll be revising and hear drunk chicks hanging out near my window talking about wanting to get laid. I’m just grateful I quit smoking or I’d be screwed—writing wise. So, I put the music or TV louder for background noise and keep writing.

9. I was told about you and your books through a mutual friend, do you think that kind of word of mouth and/or social media connection is important for upcoming writers?

What I am going to state is sad but true especially coming from a musician who has seen and felt what the digital age has done. But yes, absolutely, it is as equal if not more important than your actual writing skills. The artist in me finds it appalling but the realists in me sees that if you are good at marketing and having a social media presence you are going to do better than the ‘better writer’ just because there is so much choice and good marketing can equal a lot of book purchases. I have gotten decent at the social media game especially twitter and that is why I’m doing okay with my books and gaining an audience. I have no marketing budget so I have to be really creative to reach people. The writing is the easy part getting people to know who you are and pay attention that is tough part of writing today.

When I’m knowledgeable enough and cracked the code, I want to write a book “ Social Media Advice for Anti-Socials and Artists” because nothing aggravates me more than a quality poet, musician, or fiction writer not getting the audience that is merited because they can’t market it right, they hate social media, and their publisher is lazy and/or doesn’t have the funds. I want to teach those people how to do the bullshit because right now you are going to get mediocre writers who play the game better that will sell more books. I’m on the side of quality, risky, and/or unique art and I want to help quality artists achieve success in the digital age.

10. Have you read anything recently that's knocked you on your ass?

‘Horns’ by Joe Hill, really impressed me. The first act was just amazing: such a great premise and tight writing. This is next one is really random and I’m not a zombie guy but I read a book ‘Zombies and Shit’ by Carlton Mellick III and I just loved it. It was just Zombies meets Battle Royale with Mr. T being in it. It was so tight and entertaining; just a pleasant awesome surprise, the writing, story, and characters were so good I can’t even say it was guilty pleasure.

Other than that I’ve been reading a ton of YA books cause I’m working on one. None of them have knocked me on my ass but I’m really feeling ‘Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe’ it is really really good. I also got to be a beta reader for a poetry collection by Loren Kleinman “The Dark Cave Between My Ribs” that floored me but I have bias there. It still knocked me on my ass I think that will be a special poetry book of 2014.

11.What's next for Christoph Paul?

Like I said, I’m doing the YA book, feeling good about that. It will be comedic but more accessible than my others. It won’t be NC-17. That poetry book I refer to as my ‘808s and Heartbreak’ might come out now this year with Swift Ink Books just to show I’m not a shock writer and have serious and soft side.

I am still keeping with my punk rock roots, playing shows and I’m working on an erotica satire under a pen name Moses De Sade that is like ‘The Imperfectionists’ on Viagra and Crack. The plot is a group of extreme liberal activists poison the Fox News water supply with a new designer drug that makes you become a sexual deviant. Right now I have a scene with Lou Dobbs and a Mexican Janitor that is just so fucked up and beautiful. It goes from chapter to chapter with different workers of Fox News like ‘The Imperfectionists’ did with the newspaper workers just they have sex instead of talk about how much working for their newspaper sucks. I’m also working on a short for a Bizarro anthology called ‘The Masturbating Vampire’ about a 400 year old chronic masturbating vampire who stops masturbating because he found love. So I have a nice balance of mainstream and not so mainstream projects, which is great place to be creatively.

Thanks for having me Goat.

Thank you!

Goat

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#59 Michael Seidlinger

20 Questions with Mourning Goats

INTERVIEW FIFTY NINE

Michael J Seidlinger

Michael Seidlinger is one of the biggest and best promoters I've run across online, not only for himself, but everyone he loves and respects. After having the opportunity to speak with him, I'm pumped to hear about the things he's a part of and can't wait to see where he goes. Enjoy number 59, Michael Seidlinger! 

1. What comes to mind when you hear, "Mourning Goats?"

I picture a field of dead, or dying grass, with a dozen or so cows standing around posing as other animals. But not as themselves. How a cow poses as something else… I have no idea but really the cows would have no clue that they’re posing; they’re cows. It would be the person theoretically looking at this fucked up scene. I guess that person would be me which means… I have no idea. What was the question again?

2. I've found with most authors I talk to, they don't normally come from a background of one career choice, but jump all over the place. As someone who's been everything from a professional boxer to a construction worker, do you think the reason for this is that creatives get bored easily?

I think we all get bored easily. Everyone. Nothing lasts forever and after the first impact, the first taste, everything has a tendency to filter away with each repeat experience. It’s a reason to enjoy the first time as if it were the only, or last, time. If you decide to do something, go into it believing that it’s one-of-a-kind. There’s really no guarantee it’ll be anything but that.

3. Do you think writers have a choice to become writers? Or is it's something that just...happens?

I think it just happens but, then again, so many writers are far more certain and confident about their choice to write than I am. I fell into writing after quickly becoming enamored by all sorts of modern/contemporary experimental literature. Ask someone else and they’ll go on about how they have dreamed of being a writer from an early age. Though everyone writes, at some point the inclination to tackle an longer written piece (like a novella or novel) is a conscious one. It is an incredible challenge that is never fully completed. The completion of one novel fulfills its specific constraints but no “one novel” will ever fulfill a writer’s ultimate challenge to write what is in their minds to be the best they can produce. There is, and will always be, better. And so you write. Even in a less than conscious state, you write.

4. What have you done in your life that makes you most proud?

I don’t know. I’m still living it, I think.

5. I see how much promotion you do on your Facebook page, for not only you, but others. Do you think social media is a necessary evil for authors these days?

It isn’t evil if you look at social media as a tool. So many people are quick to call Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, etc an evil presence on their lives. I have always looked at it as nothing more than a promotional and social tool. It is highly beneficial of writers and “creative” in general to incorporate social media into their routines. You will not only be able to reach an audience but also you’ll find other writing/art that you wouldn’t have discovered without it.

6. What are you most excited about with Civil Coping Mechanism? Anything you can talk about?

Cheesy answer but: I’m excited about the future. All of it. So much great work in the world and I’m merely glad to have CCM to help bring that great work into the world. Specific details? Keep that ear to the social networking channels. I’ll mention more there.

7. In one interview you said that the book that you remember starting your path toward being a writer was House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski, how did you come across a 700+ page beast like that and decide to get it, let alone read it?

I don’t actually remember. It was during undergrad. I believe I found out about it via a friend who had mentioned it in conversation. Something about how it was basically The Blair Witch Project if it were a novel (not via premise but via the sheer ambition to go against film/literary conventions of the time). That was enough for me to go ahead and pick up the book. Upon purchasing it, I ended up reading it cover-to-cover over a single weekend. I barely slept, completely captivated by the piece. It certainly was the harbinger that led me down the literary path. After that extremely positive reading experience, I was lured into the wormhole of postmodern literature – Vonnegut, Coupland, and, yes, Palahniuk before I started on the experimental stuff like the Oulipo authors, Joyce, and so on.

8. You're currently in NYC and it sounds like you're leaving in August, do you think you'll ever make it a more permanent home?

Good question. I hope so. As of now, it doesn’t seem like a possibility. I go where the opportunity is and lately I haven’t founded a permanent funding source. The labels “poor” and “nomadic” seem to be good descriptors for my immediate future. Comes with the territory, I guess.

9. Cameron Pierce said that your new novel, The Laughter of Strangers, is the "most original boxing novel ever," can you give us an idea of what to expect?

The Laughter of Strangers is about a boxer celebrity named Willem Floures on the tail end of his career, struggling to remain the current “most noteworthy” version of himself. This is a world where fighting in the ring means fighting yourself. You face the versions that decided differently; you wage war with the versions that want to be the penultimate, the one that best represents “Willem Floures.” This is a story about the version that had it all and yet still wants more, he wants to keep fighting and is willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means losing himself in the process.

10. Since your first book came out in 2010, you've had six books published, while at the same time going after a master's degree and working on a ton of side projects... when do you have time to sleep?

Secret’s out: I don’t sleep. Ever. Well, the reality is that I am an insomniac. If you are already a workaholic and also suffer from insomnia, you end up, more or less, where I’m at.

11. What's the reasoning behind the Master's degree? Do you want to teach?

I am actually pursuing a master’s in business primarily to learn more about the world of publishing and business at large. There exists a greater purpose that has to do with working with and/or operating a successful business; the postgraduate program, in theory, will help me get closer to this goal.

12. What are you reading these days? Is anything knocking you on your ass?

I find myself gravitating towards indie/small press work these days. Big surprise, I know; however, I really do think the writing being produced within the smaller and independent presses (everything non-Big Five) is more exciting than another 400-500 page hardcover from Doubleday or Knopf. Lately, notable reads include "Crapalachia" by Scott McClanahan, "Go to work and do your job. Care for your children. Pay your bills. Obey The Law. Buy products" by Noah Cicero, "I will never be beautiful enough to make us beautiful together" by Mira Gonzalez, and "I Don't Know I Said" by Matthew Savoca.

Of course, this excludes all the CCM material that knocked me on my ass, aka surprised me, enough to publish it. It's a great time to be involved in the indie press community.

13. The Summer Rooftop Reading Series you host looks like a good time, is it more focused on the reading or the camaraderie and drinks afterwards?

It is all about the camaraderie and drinks. It’s highly informal and in many ways is my way of denying yet another “reading” to exist. There are so many readings in any given city; it’s kind of ridiculous. You have the commodities, the reading series that consistently put out a great event like Franklin Park Reading Series championed by Penina Roth. Those sorts of readings are important; however, for every Franklin Park you have a dozen meaningless ones that end up feeling awkward, sterile, and docile. Whatever happened to just having a writer stand up and read? When did it become more about accolades? I mean, what the hell? Anyway, yeah, I’m not a fan of the standard reading format if it isn’t done well (curated and planned correctly).

14. Do you have a writing schedule or are you a write when the feeling hits kind of guy?

I adhere to a quota. Depending on the novel it can be up to 2000 words a day. By default, I write 1000 words a day. This is the minimum; I always attain more than 1000. Quality matters too. I edit as I go so that I don’t end up with filler that merely exists to exist. There needs to be purpose to each paragraph, each scene. If I didn’t maintain this sort of quota, I’d likely grow lazy.

15. Do you have a favorite book you've written or is it always the one in progress?

It’s always the one that’s currently in progress. Once it’s done and out in the world, I begin seeing them as their own entities. Never “my books” just “a book.” A book always takes on a life of its own. Being its author merely entails that you were responsible for its birth.

16. What would you say your writing style is? Do you feel you fit into a genre?

You tell me because I really don’t know. I’d hope that the world “literary” is somehow attached because I have made it a personal goal to always provide more than a narrative; a story that’s merely a story is hollow. There needs to be an underlying substance that fuels the reason for those words to exist at all.

17. In June you wrote something for Melville House on famous writers rituals. Do you have any?

I need coffee at my side, even if I don’t end up drinking it. I need music, something atmosphere and preferably without any vocals. This is likely why I am so into post-rock. I like to lie down rather than sit up; I also prefer solitude to a hectic coffee shop. However, I can adapt to any setting as long as I have music and headphones to block out the humanity.

18. There are many definitions of "a writer," what's yours?

You could say that all people are writers; however, the one’s that brandish it as part of their being are a breed of person that tries to make sense of the sentences work in a grander scheme of things. Whatever that scheme may be has usually to do with the exploration of deeper themes that only a certain level of creation can achieve.

19. What advice would you give someone who wants to break into the writing world?

I truly believe that it’s important to care about the work above all else. There’s no reason to write if you are only doing so for the satisfaction of publication. If you are looking to become a writer because you want to be a million seller and/or turn novel-writing into your day job, I’m not going to say it’s impossible but I will say that it’s going to make it far more difficult to write because you will treat the craft as more a struggle than a worthwhile challenge. As for “breaking in,” I wish I could tell you because I don’t believe I have any advice to give. It almost feels like “breaking in” isn’t something that happens; rather, it is something that is always, one hopes, happening. It’s the constant fight to find and discover. Hmm. Advice to give. Write what thrills you and fuels those late night writing sessions. Odds are you’ll leave something beautiful imbedded into those sentences.

20. What's next for Michael Seidlinger?

There’s always a novel, always another project; I am always working towards what I distantly see to be something exciting. Other than that, we’ll see.

Thank you!

Goat

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#58 Jessica Anya Blau

20 Questions with Mourning Goats

INTERVIEW FIFTY EIGHT

Jessica Anya Blau

I was lucky enough to meet Jessica a few weeks ago and sneakily stole her phone, sent myself an email requesting an interview, and then wrote back to her with the questions... she may have handed me the phone to do it, but I say what I want, it's my interview. She's fantastic, her books are fantastic, and YOU are fantastic for reading them. Enjoy the one, the only, Jessica Anya Blau! 

1. What comes to mind when you hear, "Mourning Goats?" 

Rutting bucks. I realize goats aren't bucks but a mourning goat just reminds me of a rutting buck. And a rutting buck reminds me of a guy with a bottle of imported beer in his left hand.  So I guess you could say that I think of guys drinking beer when I think of mourning goats.

2. When Nick Hornby speaks, people listen, what happened after his glowing review in The Believer? 

My publicist sent the review to me when I was out running errands. I was on a hectic schedule and couldn't stop and read it so I forwarded it to a friend (while at a stoplight) and had her read it to me over the phone. And then I just laughed. It made me immensely happy. As for what happened to the book . . . I guess we'll see, right? The book just came out. 

3. What's it been like publishing through Harper Perennial?

Oh, I love all the people I work with there. They're funny and fun and authentic. No one seems to be playing any part--they're all exactly who they are. And my editor is brilliant. I feel very lucky. Also I have a great publicist who takes good care of every book he has even when you're not Cheryl Strayed or someone like that.

4. You didn't start writing until you moved to Canada after college, what was the prompt? 

Loneliness.  Pending lunacy. I found I felt okay about myself, my day, my life, when I wrote. 

5. For your novel WonderBread, you have a blurb from another Mourning Goat Interviewee, Paula Bomer and you're email pals with Nick Hornby who answered the goats questions last year, do you think that with the connectivity of social media more authors are becoming pals and then helping each other? Do you think it's a necessity in these hard publishing times? 

Well, Nick wrote me after that review and, of course, I had to write back and thank him for the review and all that. He is a supremely generous person. I met Paula when she asked me to read with her in New York and found her to be so fascinating and smart and funny, too. I don't think it's "necessary" to help other people out but I do believe that we're all in this together.  We writers.  And even we people on Earth. It's hard to write and it's hard to get published, and it's even harder to get a published book noticed.  If we look it as a community, a group of people who love each other, then it makes sense that we help each other out the best we can. So, no, I don't think it's necessary but I do think it's the right thing to do. We should treat each other kindly and as generously as possible. 

6. Are  any of your books being optioned for the big screen? Which would you most like to see? 

I think Wonder Bread Summer would make a great movie and I'd love to see it on the screen. Drinking Closer to Home would probably be the most difficult to make into a movie.  I think Drew Barrymore should play the mother in Naked Swim Parties. It is hard to think of her as a mother, but she is the age of the mother in the book.  And she'd be perfect standing at the grill, making pancakes, with nothing on but an apron. 

7. Do you have an average timeframe that it takes you to write a book?

About two years.  And then there's the year of revisions with my editor if I'm lucky enough to have sold it.

8. Have you ever had negative feedback from anyone you've written about? Either way, does that change anything? 

No.  My family is used to me writing about them and I pretty much just crack them up. Other people don't see themselves the way I see them. I've had many, many people tell me they thought one character or another was based on someone in particular and they're usually wrong. 

9. What are your thoughts on social media? Does it help or harm writers? 

I'm on book tour now (actually I'm on an airplane right now) and more than one person has come up to me at a reading and said they showed up because I posted the reading on Facebook. So I guess it helps. I get sick of myself pretty quickly, sick of the sound of my own voice (and my voice in my head, too), so I try to tweet and Facebook post about other writers, ideas, and images as much as possible.  Then I stick myself in there from time to time because I do want people to come to readings and I do want people to read the book.

10. How did you get your agent, Brandt and Hochman Literary Agents, Inc. New York, NY? What was the process like? 

I met Gail Hochman in the French House at Sewanee.  It was late at night and we stood on the porch and talked about kids. She showed me pictures of her kids.  I didn't know she was an agent.  Later, after we had talked for a good long time I said to someone, "Who was that woman? She's hilarious." They told me who she was and I wrote her name down somewhere.  When my book was done, months later, I sent it to her and . . . well, here we are.

11. If someone were to tell you one thing before you started writing, what do you wish it had been?

You aren't as dumb as you think. 

12. What's the scariest part about giving a reading?

Standing there and having people look at me. It's terrifying. I try to pretend I'm someone else. Someone who isn't scared out of her mind and trembling inside. I fake myself out. I also try to remind myself that no one really gives a shit about me and even if I bomb, the only one who will remember is me. Nothing I do will make the news, so it's stupid, really, to be so afraid. I once stepped out of a jacuzzi in a women's locker room, and vomited and passed out, NAKED, in my own vomit. Sometimes I tell myself that no matter what happens, it probably won't be as bad as that. 

13. Did I hear right? WonderBread is taken from a lot of real events you've been through? 

Yup, sure is. Here's the round up of stuff I've encountered in real life: 1. The bread bag full of cocaine. 2. The girl (moi!) working at a dress shop that's really a front for cocaine dealing. 3. The quadriplegic with the head pointer who makes "erotic" films (in real life the guy made sex films that he called "art", in the book the guy makes porn). 4. The blind date with the quadriplegic (my blind date was with a paraplegic). 5. A guy named Vice Versa (the real one wasn't a hit man). Hmmm, there's more, but I can't remember right now. 

14. What's the hardest thing you ever had to write? 

The hardest things for me to write are promo/ad copy sort of things. Fiction is way easier than stuff like that. Actually, the hardest things to write are mission statements, essays, statements of purpose.  The kind of stuff you have to write to get into colonies.  I find that kind of writing agonizing.  

15. Did I hear that the very first story you sent out was published? What did that feel like?

It did and I was shocked.  I was staying home with my baby, pulling weeds from the lawn with my crazyass next door neighbor who had screws in her mouth for teeth and liked to weed my lawn with a fork. I was sitting in the park all day, talking to other mothers, watching my crawling baby eat sand and crawl up the steps to the slide and then slide down face first.  When she napped I wrote. I didn't tell anyone, it was my secret. I had no idea if anything I wrote was good or not. Getting that story published gave me the courage to apply to graduate school. 

16. I saw your first two books have book trailers, is The Wonder Bread Summer going to have one? What do you think they do for the book? 

I'm not sure they do anything for a book.  In fact, I'm pretty certain they do nothing. But they're sort of fun to make and fun to look at. I think shorter is better. I don't' think any book trailer should be longer than 60 seconds. We are making one for Wonder Bread. We were going to shoot it last week but my schedule got too crazy.  I think we're shooting it next week.  

17. Have you ever considered doing the audio book version of your books? 

Hey, I'd do the pantomime version of my book if someone wanted it! 

18. Do you participate in any writing workshops, or is it just you and your editor? 

I have a writers group.  It's me and three guys, they all have at least two books out and they're all great writers. We eat dinner. They drink wine. We talk about everything. And then we give macro responses to each other's work. No one's really into the minutiae and that's how I prefer it. It's our editors who get into the micro. 

19. On your website it says that you have a novel in progress called Running from Vice Versa, are you nervous about giving away too much too soon? 

Really? Does it say that?  That was my working title for The Wonder Bread Summer. My webpage was recently updated.  I don't think it says that anymore, does it? OH, maybe on the HarperCollins page for me it says that, doesn't it? 

20. Other than Running from Vice Versa, what's next for Jessica Blau? 

I have five things going at once and I'm feeling somewhat paralyzed. I'm feeling a bit scared and I don't know why. I think it's because I'm in the middle of promoting Wonder Bread and so I can't get my head away from it enough to really dive into something else. I have three first chapters to a new novel (three different novels). And I have short stories I'm writing. And other stuff, too. I need to pick one thing and just dig in. I need to ignore myself for a while (my constantly critical self-doubting, niggling voice) and just do it. I'm starting tomorrow. I swear. 

Thank you! 

Goat

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#57 Jesus Angel Garcia

20 Questions with Mourning Goats

INTERVIEW FIFTY SEVEN

Jesus Angel Garcia

This interview has been over a year in the making, but after the festival with Iggy (yes, that Iggy) and the Stooges, we got some questions answered. So, without further adieu, I give you Jesus Angel Garcia and his book, badbadbad! 

1. What comes to mind when you hear, "Mourning Goats?"

The remorse of a 14-year-old Catholic boy, masturbating.

2. Do you consider yourself more of a novelist or musician? 

I've played music and written "seriously" since 8th grade. I'm glad I'm still able to do both, but what's more important to me is how I live, quality of life. I'm just trying to be a decent human being and enjoy what's left of my time.

3. That being said, you have 30 shows lined up for 2013, already. When are you going to have time to write? 

Yeah, I've got a lot going on with my string band Three Times Bad. Most of my writing right now is song lyrics. I've also begun to write my next book -- a collection of stories and prose poems based on Billie Holiday tunes. I make time when I can, when I feel like I need to get something down. I like flying because I'm trapped on the plane and all I do is write (and read). It's a respite from everything on the ground demanding head space. I'm doing a writing retreat in Portland this summer, so I'll crank out some more Billie Holiday drafts then (and learn to play this banjo I recently picked up). I'm also seeing this beautiful poet who won't let me not write. We're talking about launching a transmedia publishing company.

4. What was the idea behind doing not only the book and music for the book, but also film? Was it all marketing? 

Nah, less marketing than unrestrained creative impulse, I guess. It's hard to remember exactly. I think the multimedia stuff for "badbadbad" started out simply from my interest in exploring the novel's themes through different lenses, just to see what that would look like. I did originally plan to make a couple of videos from the audio-visual material to promote the book outside traditional literary channels. I've always been into music, and at the time, I had just bought my first point-and-shoot camera and editing software, so I was fired by the possibilities. As I got deeper into writing songs and interviewing people on the street, the whole thing sort of took off and I could see these distinct yet interrelated projects coming into being. I couldn't stop once I saw what they could be. I wound up with a complete soundtrack and a full-length documentary film that extended the breadth of the novel beyond the words on the page. It was an unexpected outcome.

5. What's going on with Down in a Hole?

That's my second novel. It took me six years and fifty thousand drafts to get it right. The manuscript's on my hard drive. I should probably print a hard copy. I haven't shopped it much, focusing instead on Three Times Bad. No luck with the few indie presses I've hit up. I should probably put more effort into getting that book published. It's a paranormal anti-romance historical fiction existential meditation on mortality. Got any recs?

6. What was it like working with New Pulp Press? Any plans to go back for another book? 

New Pulp's editor/publisher Jon Bassoff is a great guy. He's easy to work with and incredibly supportive. But I don't have plans to write anything new in the transgressive noir vein, and his aesthetic is pretty much twisted crime fiction, so I'm gonna have to look elsewhere for a home for my next books.

7. What's your writing schedule look like? Do you have one? 

I travel by plane as often as possible.

8. It seems as though you're a full-time musician and novelist, is that right? What else do you do to fill your time? 

I freelance: First Church webmaster, reiki massage therapist, mile-high entertainer on those private jets where CEO's and politicians lick each other's billfolds.

9. Mud Luscious Press just closed up shop, where do you think indie lit is headed?

From what I can tell, indie lit is a luminescent, Hydra-headed beast with boundless energy, badass attitude, and an appetite for self-destruction. Indie lit is hungry, and it feeds on itself. When one braintrust dies, a new one rises from its rotten corpse. As there's no end to cynicism in the indie lit world, there's also no end to the idealism of bleary-eyed writer/editor/publishers-in-training. Have I mentioned that I'm starting a press? Of course: "Unsolicited submissions are not being accepted at this time."

10. What's your take on e-books? Are they killing the printed word? 

E-books are... eeeevil? Nah. I don't care. Go on and lick your laptop/tablet/cellphone screens. Me? I eat words on paper. I like acoustic instruments and I like books that smell.

11. Have you received a lot of backlash from BadBadBad? You hit on some pretty rough topics. 

Some but not so much. Suffice to say, the book has triggered a range of reactions, most positive, most passionate.

12. You said in one interview that, "the haters tend to hate it with a passion," do you think that those who hate, and share their hate, actually help sales? The whole, any press is good press. 

Sales? Surely you jest.

13. You compiled nearly 80 gigabytes of film for the documentary, how did you choose what to include? 

At first, the editing process was complicated, searching for connects and just-right juxtapositions and narrative sequences among so many faces, voices, and words. It was easier once I homed in on the sounds. Then I just constructed the film like you'd compose an extended musical work. Once I listened, it was obvious which parts to include and which to cut.   

14. It seems as though you're almost angry about how digital the world has become, do you think we're going in a negative direction with how connected we are or does it amplify reality? 

I AM NOT ANGRY!!! Maybe we've always been as pathetic as we often appear to be while sucking the digital teat all the livelong day. My biggest problem with e-obsessive/compulsive behavior is that a lot of people seem to have forgotten how (or have simply given up on developing the capacity) to communicate and connect face-to-face, eye-to-eye, skin-to-skin. It seems to me that a lot of us use digital media as a way to tune out, not tune in. Information overload, clickety click culture, always-on oversharing... all that stuff tends to be, I think, a diversion from or disruption to more meaningful nuanced communication, one-on-one connection, healthy sleep patterns, etc. That's a sad misuse of the technology and it makes me feel like too many of us are little more than two-legged hillbilly cyborg dogs.  

15. I've never heard of a dating site used for novel research, what went down on OkCupid? 

Hunger, hunt, gorge, vomit, repeat.

16. Do you think that being a musician transitions to the way you write? Do you feel that your writing is almost lyrical?

I hope so. Yeah, I think they're connected. They can't not be, right? I've been doing both for so long. My first writing was poetry, so there's that.

17. You're all over the social networks, do you think that they're a necessity in today's self-promotional world? 

I guess. I dunno. I'm not sure. I'd like to quit. I guess I would if I wasn't a cyborg dog.

18. What's been the most exciting news you've received about the book, the band, or the film? Each have so many exciting things happening! 

Hard to say. Excitement is fleeting, ya know? What goes up... anyway, when you first see your first book in print it can't not feel like something that matters. But then reality kicks in. Do you know how many books are published every year in the United States alone? Still, my favorite moments with the book were probably when a legit critic wrote a thoughtful review and I was like, yes, this writer gets what I was trying to get across and he or she took the time to articulate it. I'm super appreciative for the times that happened. With the band... we just played all three days of this badass Ink n Iron Festival in Long Beach on the Queen Mary, a historic cruise ship, with headliners Iggy & the Stooges and so many other world-class bands. That was an honor. Also, our on-stage partnerships with burlesque dancers are kinda magical dream-come-true experiences. There's nothing like a performance that kills. With the film, getting an acceptance email from the first film fest I applied to was a good day.

19. Are you reading anything that you can't stop telling people about? 

Anne Carson's "Autobiography of Red" is kicking my ass and reminding me what language and story can do when you push yourself to write big.

20. What's next for Jesus Angel Garcia?

At this moment, a much-needed vacation with family and old-school friends I haven't seen in way too long. Maybe after that, a new chapter in creative publishing.

Thank you! 

Goat

Check out his other places on the web, at www.threetimesbad.com and www.badbadbad.net and as always, go "like" the Facebook page for the newest interviews, updates, and pages to chew. www.mourninggoats.com