Interviews

10 Questions with Phoebe Gloeckner

March 25th, 2013

In his introduction to A Child's Life and Other Stories, R. Crumb describes Phoebe Gloeckner as looking at the world with penetrating intensity, and I can't imagine a better description. Her major works, A Child's Life and Other Stories and The Diary of a Teenage Girl, capture excruciating and pivotal adolescent moments through the filter of Gloeckner's stunning comic illustrations. Her stories are heart-wrenching and compelling.

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10 Questions with Frank Bill

March 5th, 2013

Frank Bill’s Indiana seems like a scary kind of place. I mean, I know the real Indiana isn’t so bad; I’ve been through the Hoosier state more than a few times and the people I’ve met there have been friendly, seemingly decent human beings. Of course, my visits were before the housing bubble burst, before the good working class jobs in the Midwest started to dry up and be replaced with minimum/slave wage retail jobs that barely fill your tank, let alone keep a roof over your head and food in the refrigerator.

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A Conversation With Craig Yoe about Yoe Books, His Partnership With IDW Comics, Sex in Comics and More

February 21st, 2013

A finely tuned, cherry red '57 Chevy Bel Air, that perfectly plump pin-up girl making eyes, a dark pull on a fine cigar; these are “classic moments” in time that we always want to preserve. But everything just comes back as a photocopy of the original, weaker with each go-around.

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10 Questions with Fight Song Author Joshua Mohr

February 12th, 2013

I don't think it's any secret that we love Joshua Mohr 'round these parts. He's written some excellent books—such as Some Things That Meant The World To Me, Termite Parade and Damascus—and he also helps others write excellent books, teaching in the MFA program at the University of San Francisco and here, at LitReactor. So of course we are excited about the release of his latest novel, a satirical take on the midlife crisis called Fight Song.

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10 Questions with Aimee Bender

February 5th, 2013

Aimee Bender’s most recent novel, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, tells the story of Rose, a nine year-old girl who discovers she can taste emotion when she bites into her mother’s homemade cake. Rose’s exploration of her new ability and the insight it gives her into the lives of the people around her is a beautiful amalgam of the heartfelt and strange.

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10 Questions with Erotica Writer Averil Dean

January 28th, 2013

Averil Dean writes erotica. Now, a lot of writers may turn their nose up at that—after all, the genre isn't known for its wordplay. But there are shining stars in every genre, and damn, can Averil write. Next year her erotic psychological thriller, Tapestry of Scars, will be released by MIRA, with a second novel due out in January 2015. She's poised for big things. 

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Writers and Depression: An Interview with Psychotherapist and Author, Philip Kenney

January 21st, 2013

Writing is an oftentimes lonely calling. As if the rigors and challenges of modern publishing and making a living off one’s writing wasn’t enough, writers often fight many silent and sometimes crippling battles in their minds. So often have we heard the creative-as-depressive or just a little bit “crazy” debate: Do the truly brilliant artists require a bit of mental instability to craft brilliant art? And often the idea of the “crazy” or “mad” artist is romanticized by young writers finding their voice and literary path.

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10 Questions with Joe Biel, Founder of Microcosm Publishing

January 17th, 2013

Joe Biel is a writer, activist, journalist, filmmaker, teacher, and publisher. He founded Microcosm Publishing and the imprint Cantankerous Titles, which have published over 300 titles and sold more than one million "classic format" paper books. He co-founded the Portland Zine Symposium and is the author of Beyond the Music, Make a Zine, and The CIA Makes Science Fiction Unexciting.

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10 Questions with George Saunders

January 8th, 2013

I have a dubious history with the short story collections of George Saunders.

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Steve Niles Creates As He Destroys: A Look At Final Night

December 18th, 2012

I want to say that Steve Niles is the Michael Jackson of horror comics. The Madonna of supernatural graphic literature. The Walter White of comic book writers because he is the one who knocks! But I’m not going to say any of that because Steve Niles has just become the man to end all comparisons. When issue #1 of his new comic book series Final Night released on December 12th, Steve Niles set up the dynamite.

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