09-18-09: Michael Kurland Interviewed at SF in SF on September 12, 2009
"I believe that most writing is done buy the unconscious mind..." — Michael Kurland
That was what Michael Kurland said in the interview, but it was his conscious mind working before, during and after. And I have to say that I'm not surprised when the writers I ask to interview are well, sort of reluctant. But though Kurland expressed some reluctance before the interview, you'd sure as heck never know that once he got going.
Come to think of it, Kurland manages to be as witty and engaging in his interview because, I suppose, he does manage to connect to his unconscious when answering questions. I spoke with him both about his Victorian/Edwardian Moriarty mysteries and his witty, caustic introduction to a collection of science fiction stories. He and I are really in the same place when it comes to how books are shelved. On one hand, the whole genre thing is very convenient, though not as convenient as I would like. They should have shelf labeled, "Books with Monsters" where the polyglot collection of science fiction, fantasy, horror and even literary titles that feature monsters are shelved. But I'm also of a mind with Kurland, in that I'd not mind if they just shelved all fiction together by author last-name, from A-Z and gave up trying to classify fiction. I mean, it's all lies, isn’t it? Or the truth disguised as lies? You can hear our spirited discussion by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
09-17-09: A 2009 Interview with Jeffrey Gonzalez of the Sanger Paranormal Society : Bigfoot, Triangles and Abductions in Central California
The Forteana list is a treasure trove of great reading — so long as you enjoy news about weird stuff that is reported by the even weirder humans of this odd planet. There I am, filing away, and I find a story from the Sanger Paranormal Society, near Fresno, California. They’ve got a new snapshot of Bigfoot. That's close, I think. Maybe I can give them a call.
Indeed, I did manage to call Jeffrey Gonzalez of the Sanger Paranormal Society, and set up an interview for KUSP's Talk of the Bay last Sunday evening, September 13, 2009. We really had a lot of fun, talking about his recent Bigfoot investigation, triangles over Fresno, and an abduction case he was working on. I'm really fascinated by the borders of belief; for example, I'm more inclined to believe in Bigfoot and aliens than I am in the so-called "death panels," which seem like ugly advertising hype to me. And I guess that's what I like about all this Forteana — Bigfoot is such a positive presence. Aliens, whether they’re from another planet or, as Kage Baker suggested in the interview I podcast on Monday, our own, can only be a good thing, no matter what their proclivities are with regards to medical examinations. Gonzalez has a thoroughly positive perspective with regards to becoming a paranormal investigator, which you can hear by following this link to the MP3 audio file of our conversation.
09-16-09: Nalo Hopkinson Reads at SF in SF on September 12, 2009 : Scary Monsters and Super-Creeps
What scares you? What disturbs you? What gets under your skin and makes you shiver? On one hand, it seems to vary wildly from one person to another. One person may bathe in blood, but shiver at the sight of a spider; another may have tarantulas as pets yet quiver with terror in the event of a pinprick. Still, there do seem to be some universals.
Nalo Hopkinson apparently gets the universals, as she had the entire audience shivering at her reading from a forthcoming novel titled, 'Donkey.' I'll not spoil any of the material for you, but I will say that the shudders were indeed universal in front of and behind the podium. To my mind, she really nailed Das Unheimliche — what Freud called "the uncanny." Familiar, yet strange, her narrative was the essence of cognitive dissonance and so well executed in terms of prose, that it just creeped the hell out of all of us. Ready for a chill on this chilly evening? If it is not chilly where you are, it will be as soon as you follow this link to the MP3 audio file.
09-15-09: Michael Kurland Reads at SF in SF on September 12, 2009 : Moriarty Returns, After An Introduction
Michael Kurland has been there in background of the events for SF in SF for quite a while. I've seen him there many times and never known who he was until last night. But when he sat down to read at last night's event, he made a huge impression.
Now, let me first say to listeners, yes, he was talking to me. You'll know what I'm referring to when you hear it. But you'll soon forget it, because when he launches into the introduction to a collection of science fiction short stories, you just might be able to hear the audience's laughter over your own. Kurland does a real Jack-the-Ripper on the idea of genre fiction. Not to be coy, it pisses him right off and he's not shy about eviscerating the marketing focus of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery — even romance, one of which he wrote under the pseudonym Jennifer Plum. (In the forthcoming podcast of the panel discussion you'll hear his hilarious description of how he came to that name.) Then he launches into a spirited reading of the second chapter of his new Moriarty adventure. You can hear all this and more by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
09-14-09: A 2009 Interview with Kage Baker — The View From Spyglass Park
"I'm more Dionysian than Apollonian any day ..." — Kage Baker
Kage Baker lives a little bit of a drive from me — the drive from my house in Aptos to Pismo Beach is a little over three hours. I can spend that in traffic between my house and San Francisco on a bad day. So I decided to take a little road trip.
Though I've interviewed Baker in little bits and pieces at the SF in SF events, I'd never taken the time to talk to her about her wonderful work as a whole. We met and spoke in Spyglass Park, 20 feet from a 100-foot cliff that overlooks the Pacific. It was an incredibly beautiful day. The sun was hot, but there was a cool breeze blowing in from the ocean. As I spoke with Baker, I began to realize just how important she is to the genre and how important I think she will be to American literature. We talked about her earliest reading experience, one that colors her work to this very day, and about her earliest writing, which again, influences and is indeed part of her work to this very day. You can hear our conversation beneath the blue sky, above the blue ocean, by following this link to the MP3 Audio file.
New to the Agony Column
02-01-12: Commentary : Stan Lee Splashes 'Stan Lee's How to Write Comics' and 'Stan Lee's How to Draw Comics' : Lessons in the Form, From the Master
01-23-12: Commentary : Sara Paretsky Nails 'Breakdown' : The Machine Stops
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Interview with Sara Paretsky : "Everything in a courtroom is a story; it's not justice, it's combating narratives."
01-18-12: Commentary : Téa Obreht Conjures 'The Tiger's Wife' : The Grammar of Vision
01-13-12: Commentary : Hard Case Subterranean Block : Not from Bob's Basement Tapes
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Phone Interview with Lisa Randall : "...there seems to be some evidence, especially from one of the experiments."
01-10-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Terry D'Auray Catches Lawrence Block and 'The Burglar on the Prowl' : "A show well worth the price of a ticket."
12-29-11: Commentary : My Life in the Bush of Books : Island of Vice by Richard Zacks, Iago by David Snodin, The Coincidence Engine by Sam Leith and The Dipatcher by Ryan David Jahn
12-21-11: Commentary : Cold Hand in Mine by Robert Aickman : From the Seedy to the Sublime
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Three Books with Alan Cheuse : 'Kill Bin Laden' ; Ryu Mitsuse, '10 Billion Days and 100 Billion Nights' ; Michael Crichton and Richard Preston, 'Micro'
12-20-11: Commentary : David Blackbourn Visits 'Marpingen: Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in a Nineteenth-Century German Village' : Externalizing a Culture Clash
12-15-11: Commentary : Ayize Jama-Everett Reveals 'The Liminal People' : The Powers That Be
Agony Column Podcast News Report : The Agony Column Live with Lisa Goldstein and Ayize Jama-Everett, and music by Fenyang Smith, December 10, 2011 : "... let's look at what happens if people have abilities that other people don't have ..."
11-28-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Scott Wallace : "Within months of first contact, these groups experience a huge die-off."
11-22-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Charles Frazier, Part Two : "It's not me telling you, there's this storyteller voice."
11-21-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Charles Frazier : "If we're going in the wrong direction, we could turn around and go back."
11-17-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Gianni Mola : "The only way you can learn, I told them, is to watch me cook it."
11-11-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Karl Marlantes : "...the way I "think" about things, with quotes around think, is I tend to write them down..."
10-31-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Colson Whitehead : "In the Apocalypse, somebody's gonna have to do the grunt work..."
10-17-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Russell Banks : "They are in a sense, permanently marked and thrown into this darkness..."
