And I’m slowly running out of interview subjects once again.
This is not, by the way, a blog post soliciting authors to email me for interviews. That happened last time and the resultant avalanche was mighty. (I literally still don’t know if I’m un-buried; I’m sure I missed emails and failed to respond to people accordingly, and if that happened, you have my apologies. I literally got many hundreds of emails, which surprised the crap out of me. I was woefully unprepared.)
What is this, then? This is me, asking you, the audience here, who you want me to interview.
I figure, hey, last week I managed to get Margaret Atwood. Any storyteller below Atwood on the Authorial Chain of Being (which is, I think, most everyone) is fair game at least for me to ask. Right? Right. Plus, this blog gets ~250k hits a month these days (which is why I’m starting to pay with blood for the privilege of someone else hosting it), so I’ve got that going for me.
So. Big picture, little picture, whatever:
What storytellers do you want to see me interview here?
They can be storytellers you love, or know, or who you think are appropriately controversial.
And don’t feel limited to just authors.
Game designers! Filmmakers! Comic folks! Transmedia practitioners!
Now, you may still be saying, “But I’m a storyteller and I want to recommend me, me, me.”
Okay, fine.
Here’s how you do it if you still want to solicit an interview at this blog.
You email me at terribleminds at gmail dot com with the following subject line:
[terribleminds-interview] Your Name + Your Project
(Meaning, duh, type out your actual name and your project name.)
I also demand a copy of whatever project you’ve got going on. E-copy or physical copy fine.
I am quite unlikely to publish interviews with self-published authors unless you have other published credentials or some manner of kick-ass sales numbers or some other success story worth talking about. I apologize for this but the majority of those emails I had to (unsuccessfully) wade through were from self-published authors. It was… not pleasant.
So, there you go.
Now, to finish up: we’ve got interviews ideally coming in from James Finn Garner, Jake Bible, Mike Underwood, and Alex Hughes. But, as noted: will still need more to carry us past the holidays and into the new year, so jump into the comments and get to recommendin’.
Oh! Another question, actually.
If you have new questions you’d like me to ask all interview subjects, toss them into the comments, too. With the new batch of interviews I’ll probably once more update my initial 10 questions.
Pallav says:
Would love to see @WarrenEllis interviewed here. Other than him Chip Zdarsky (@Zdarsky), Simon Spurrier(@SiSpurrier), Stoya (@Stoya), Ben Templesmith (@Templesmith). Also, Joe Abercrombie and Scott Lynch.
Okay, that’s a lot.
Thanks! 🙂
October 25, 2012 — 8:08 AM
Josh Loomis says:
I for one would love to see you chat storytelling and influences with @neilhimself or Chris Claremont, perhaps Timothy Zahn or Dan Abnett.
October 25, 2012 — 8:14 AM
Chihuahua Zero says:
In terms of literature, I’d be very interested in seeing Neil Shusterman (of the Unwind series, among many other books), Heather Brewer (Vladimir Tod), and other YA authors who elements of horror in their works.
Hmm…I challenge you to interview Neil Gaiman! Let’s see if you can secure his attention.
October 25, 2012 — 8:15 AM
Joanna Penn says:
I’d love to hear from:
* Scott Sigler – always a lot to learn from him
* Joss Whedon – clearly 🙂
* Lee Child
* EL James if you want to tackle the sex thing 🙂
* Anne Rice – her take on how she was the original vampire/sex writer
Thanks Chuck!
October 25, 2012 — 8:30 AM
Gregor Xane says:
You need to interview Jeffrey Ford. He’s won the Edgar award and the World Fantasy Award (like 6 times).
October 25, 2012 — 8:40 AM
Dan Thompson says:
I’d love to see interviews with:
Jim Butcher
Jack McDevitt
Mur Lafferty
Wil Wheaton
Nathan Lowell
And for a real challenge, Benjamin Franklin. Yes, the dead one.
As for questions, not sure if I have a new one, but I will say that one of my favorite questions of the batch is favorite word and favorite curse word. Even when I have no interest in this particular author, I at least skim through enough to read the answers to that.
October 25, 2012 — 9:31 AM
Shiloh Walker says:
I saw Joss Whedon and my mind just died. O.o YESSSSS!! Wil Wheaton or The Bloggess would be fun, too.
October 25, 2012 — 9:42 AM
Jessica McHugh says:
I second Warren Ellis!! I would also love to see an interview with Michael A. Arznen and Joe Lansdale. 🙂
And an interview with Roald Dahl’s bones, if you can swing it. “It” being a shovel.
October 25, 2012 — 9:44 AM
Tee Morris says:
I’m not going to be shy here, but Pip and I would love to bring it here to TerribleMinds.com.
We’re getting ready for our last appearance for 2012, and then in 2013 we will begin again with plenty to talk about so you let me know if you want us tag teaming on here.
Keep up the great work, sir.
October 25, 2012 — 9:47 AM
Phil Norris says:
I’d like to put forward Joe Abercrombie. He has a pretty healthy following this side of the pond, and I think making inroads into the US as well. Someone who’s reinvigorated the fantasy genre with the First Law trilogy and the three standalones that followed.
Also Richard K. Morgan, the Takeshi Kovacs SF trilogy (Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, Woken Furies) and fantasy books The Steel Remains & The Cold Commands (to be followed next year by The Dark Defiles).
October 25, 2012 — 9:53 AM
Remi Jones says:
I would love to read an interview from a successful self-published author.
Hugh Howey- His Wool Omnibus Science Fiction
Tracey Garvis-Graves- On the Beach Romance
Colleen Hoover- Slammed, Point of Retreat YA
All these authors found traditional publishers through the success of their e-publishing. In the case of Hugh Howey and Tracey Garvis-Graves, movie deals.
How did they do that beyond writing great books? Is it just the cream rising to the top? What can we learn from them?
As far as traditionally published authors John Ajvide Lindqvist. How did he create such emotionally rich characters? Little Star was a terrifying book.
Russel Banks Lost Memory of Skin changed my world view, and not in a way I wanted it changed. Please interview him too.
Get busy Mr. Wendig. Thanks in advance.
October 25, 2012 — 10:00 AM
Rick A. Carroll says:
You need to interview Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Just saying.
October 25, 2012 — 10:11 AM
Chris Stonebender says:
Josh Friedman, TV writer.
October 25, 2012 — 10:14 AM
Dave Turner says:
Neil Gaiman would be great fun but, despite having landed The Atwood, you might need more realistic options. I think that Lev Grossman would be a good fit for your audience and he seems the type who would do it.
October 25, 2012 — 10:20 AM
William says:
David Wong.
October 25, 2012 — 10:25 AM
Lindy says:
Would LOVE you to interview god; sorry, I mean Joss Whedon.
Or Tom Robbins. Yeah, you and Tom!
October 25, 2012 — 11:22 AM
Amber Love says:
I’d love to see some answers from editors, publishers, and other folks that make up the support network of writers.
October 25, 2012 — 11:22 AM
Amy Tupper says:
Amy Winfrey, writer and illustrator of a little cartoon called “Making Fiends”
She is fiendishly awesome, and a great story-teller of the twisted to boot.
October 25, 2012 — 11:26 AM
John Boggs says:
Howzabout Dan Simmons? He seems like an all-around good guy, and a very imaginative writer in several genres.
October 25, 2012 — 11:51 AM
Josin says:
Gaiman would be awesome, and considering the number of times I’ve watched the Iron Man 3 trailer, so would Warren Ellis. I saw Joss Whedon on one of the lists upthread, so I’ll add him to mine, too.
Of course, if you want a real challenge, you could always try and wrangle some of Rowling’s time. I definitely wouldn’t hate that, or a series of interviews with the YA mega-sellers like her, S. Collins and S. Meyer.
No pressure 😛
October 25, 2012 — 11:58 AM
Gef says:
Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Keene, Lee Thompson, Cate Gardner, Damien W. Grintalis, Ellen Datlow … just a few names off the top of my head of talented storytellers.
October 25, 2012 — 12:00 PM
Jackie says:
This may be a bit of a stretch, but Joseph Gordon Levitt–specifically in reference to his hitRECord project, which falls in to what I would consider a transmedia project that is audience driven (@hitRECordJoe).
Or, Jacqueline Carey (@JCareyAuthor).
October 25, 2012 — 12:03 PM
Matt White says:
I’d love to see an interview between you and Christa Faust, I think it would be explosively interesting.
October 25, 2012 — 12:03 PM
Erik says:
You should interview John Scalzi about “The Human Division”.
October 25, 2012 — 12:04 PM
Richard says:
E.L. James is actually a great idea. I’d love to hear what she has to say. Are there other fanfiction types who’ve hit it big?
Also, Charlie Huston because, you know, Joe Pitt is quite possibly the coolest noir character ever created (not that I’ve read every noir character ever created or anything). And also because, where the hell is Charlie? Doesn’t he have a book coming out soon?
J. R. Moehringer, too. Dude can write. Fiction, non-fic, his collaberation with Andre Agassi, whatever he’s doing, it’s always a damn good story.
October 25, 2012 — 12:09 PM
Name says:
Hugh Howey – great indie sci-fi writer who’s pretty famous through his Wool series.
Sean Platt & David W. Wright – author due who write paranormal and slightly sc-fi Amazon series. Recently got int the top 100 book sales on Amazon where they got picked up by their imprint
October 25, 2012 — 12:12 PM
Suzie says:
Would love to see Neil Gaimain or Phillip Pullman (not least because I’m going to go and see a talk by them on Monday!)
October 25, 2012 — 12:56 PM
Cheryl says:
Whedon, of course. Like Duh even. But also Amanda Hocking or Carrie Clevenger.
October 25, 2012 — 1:04 PM
Chris Bardell says:
William Gibson (@GreatDismal)
October 25, 2012 — 2:50 PM
Chris Lites says:
Hugh Howey would be a good interview. Also M. John Harrison or William Gibson. Gibson is generally recalcitrant though.
I’d love to see a David Mitchell interview, but his schedule may not allow for one right now.
And if all those fail I suggest you interview Miriam Black or some other fictional character.
October 25, 2012 — 3:16 PM
K.P. Dawson says:
I have a mighty hankering to see you interact with:
Chuck Palahniuk
Jane Espenson
Gregory Maguire
John Scalzi
October 25, 2012 — 3:19 PM
Nathan Kane says:
I gotta go with the others here who mentioned Hugh Howey. Quite a success story there.
October 25, 2012 — 3:30 PM
Dora says:
Would love to see you interview these few:
Neil Gaiman
Chuck Palahniuk
Alan Campbell
Brandon Sanderson
October 25, 2012 — 3:37 PM
MJ Scafati says:
I’d love to hear from:
Mur Lafferty (Nothing better than ISBW)
Scott Sigler (Nuff said)
Neal Stephenson
Nathan Lowell
John Scalzi (we know he has free time, Human Division)
Bill DeSmedt (Dualism should be out soon)
Vi Hart (why not?)
Ken Liu (not many with Hugos AND Nebulas)
Editors/ Publishers (Neil Clarke, Niall Harrison, etc)
Damon Lindoff (again, why not?)
Amanda Makepeace (her work is fascinating)
Paolo Bacigalupi
For fun or filler: pick a twitter follower at random
October 25, 2012 — 3:44 PM
Mez says:
Mike Krahulik from Penny Arcade.
October 25, 2012 — 4:19 PM
Sigil says:
Dan Abnett! Aaron Dembski-Bowden!
October 25, 2012 — 4:29 PM
Rick A. Carroll says:
Actually, more seriously, why not Trent Zelazny? He’s got a new book coming out, and I am fairly sure he’d go for it. I’ll be happy to ask him for you if you’re interested in his brand of fiendishness. Which you should be, because he’s awesome.
October 25, 2012 — 4:52 PM
Corinne says:
I’d like to hear from Shadow Unit‘s creative team.
Jennifer Armintrout‘s pretty badass.
Josh Fruhlinger of Comics Curmudgeon did a Kickstarter earlier this year to fund his first novel.
I suspect that any and all of your fellow Angry Roboteers who’ve not yet submitted to the terribleminds interview would also be awesome.
October 25, 2012 — 5:23 PM
im_not_a_lizard says:
John Connolly and Arnaldur Indridason. Please.
October 25, 2012 — 5:49 PM
Michael Buono says:
Any other writers who used to play tabletop role playing games. It would be great to hear how it influenced their writing/reading.
October 25, 2012 — 6:07 PM
Tim Pettigrew says:
I seem to remember, back in the dark ages of BBSes, you somehow managed to get Bruce Campbell to log into your system and leave everyone a “Hey, I was here.” note. Either that, or I fell victim to a great hoax that made me smile.
I’d love to see you interview him, Don Coscarelli, or Jason Pargin (John Dies at the End). I think all of them would be great fun.
-Tim
October 25, 2012 — 6:13 PM
Ben K. says:
Just had the Festival of Reading here in St. Pete, and Dennis Lehane was great — he’d be pretty awesome, I think. Also, Bill McKeen would be good, too.
October 25, 2012 — 8:27 PM
M. Chapman says:
I reccommend interviewing Robert King. The man has written some of my favorite fantasy works and I suspect him as being slightly insane.
October 25, 2012 — 8:39 PM
Dick Herald says:
I have wrote a self published book called “The Vibrating Chair of Happy Time” and would love to be interviewed.
Its awesome all I did was Copy+paste comments from Rule 34 and publish them in a book. I can’t wait to reveal my raunchy secrets.
October 25, 2012 — 8:43 PM
Gethin Lynes says:
Steven Erikson, maple-leafed master of epic, dirty, vastly intelligent fantasy, and sufferer (it would seem) of no one’s bullshit, would make a great interview here. He’d give you a run for your money Wendig… or your grubby undershorts at least.
October 25, 2012 — 8:47 PM
LizV says:
/*delurks*/
John Connolly’s a delightful panelist and all-around smart guy; bet he’d make for an interesting interview.
/*relurks*/
October 25, 2012 — 9:36 PM
Jeremiah says:
Agree on Scalzi, Whedon, or Gaiman. I’d add Patrick Rothfuss as a good interview.
For things in a totally different direction how about Jonathan Coulton (musical stories), Alan Moore or Frank Miller (comics), or Freddie Wong, or Felicia Day (short-ish video stories).
October 25, 2012 — 9:47 PM
Camille Meador says:
I think it would be very tasty indeed if you interviewed both Jonathan Maberry and Mira Grant as they are both spooky and amazing authors……..
October 25, 2012 — 9:52 PM
Soy says:
Richard Kadrey
Vicki Pettersson
C.E. Murphy
October 25, 2012 — 10:15 PM
Harry Markov says:
Margo Lanagan
Angela Slatter
Kaaron Warren
Jeff & Ann VanderMeer
Catherine Valente
Laura Anne Gilman
Amal El-Mohtar
Jonathan Wood – wrote “No Hero”
Thomas Ligotti
October 26, 2012 — 2:00 AM