Yesterday, I received a phone call.
It was Dan O’Shea (pictured above).
Dan said, “Are you ready to do this?”
And I glanced down at the pants pooling around my ankles and the bowl of tapioca pudding sitting there at my desk looking at me all lasciviously (you naughty pudding, you nasty, naughty pudding), and I was like, “Can he see me? Does he have a spyglass on me from somewhere on the woods?”
Then I remembered: Oh. Ohhhh. Right. Right! The interview.
I told him he’d have to call me back in five minutes, at which point I did my business with the pudding.
Finally, when I finally toweled off, Dan did indeed call me back and we had a fantastic chat that took, what, 45 minutes? An hour? Who can say? By the time the Rufies wore off, I was bathed in fond remembrance.
So, what the hell did we talk about? Well. We talked about Irregular Creatures. We talked about self-publishing. About blogging. About pantsers versus planners. It was a thoughtful conversation, largely devoid of heavy profanity and any mention of cake and/or whores.
Shit, that probably sounds boring.
What I mean is, we spent an hour talking about pudding-fucking. Which is not a metaphor. I mean we actually talked about fornicating with various puddings. His favorite? Figgy pudding. He’s old school. That’s just how Dan O’Shea rolls, ladies. When it comes to Ye Olde Danimal, it’s always Christmas.
Anyway, if you’d like to listen to a thoughtful conversation about the craft of writing long treatise on the merits of banging a big ol’ glob of pudding, then Dan and I got you covered.
Dan’s review of Irregular Creatures is here: REVIEW.
And the interview (*.wav format) is here: PUDDING.
Please to enjoy.
Kate Haggard says:
I can put my finger on it now! I expected you to sound a bit rougher. You know, more gravel in the voice. (Conversely, Dan sounds almost exactly like I expected. Huh.)
Worthwhile listen. You two should kick around the idea of a podcast.
January 22, 2011 — 9:07 AM
Christopher Gronlund says:
Like Dan O’Shea, I tend to not read too much horror, sci-fi, or fantasy, but I dug the hell out of Irregular Creatures and enjoyed the interview. There are certain writers who pull off a great blend of genre and just damn solid writing–you mention Lansdale, and I totally agree there. You do it very well, too.
After reading Irregular Creatures, you definitely have a sale from me when Blackbirds is released.
January 22, 2011 — 1:33 PM
Eric Satchwill says:
Ok, you know who you two remind me of? Adam and Jamie from Mythbusters. Brilliant.
I liked hearing both of your takes on outlining and such. Definitely know what it’s like to have my characters say “you know what? I gonna go do this now instead.” On the other hand, I like being able to look at where I’m going and what I’ve done.
January 22, 2011 — 1:55 PM
Andrew Jack says:
I had a very similar experience with shifting from pantsing to outlining. I was pantsing some really cool scenes and moments in my manuscripts, but the MS’s themselves were always a let down because I hadn’t planned them.
So I don’t like outlining that much, but I do it because my writing suffers if I don’t.
Really good, fun interview to listen to, cheers.
January 22, 2011 — 7:36 PM
Marko Kloos says:
Before I download that interview, let me just say that I’ll never look at a bowl of tapioca the same way EVER AGAIN. Thanks, Wendig.
(Also, “pudding fucker” is now part of my vocabulary of terms of endearment.)
January 22, 2011 — 7:46 PM