Robyn Ritchie
Best and worst movie you’ve seen recently?
Best movie: Joker
Worst movie: Pilgrim
Favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
Potatoes and chorizo!
Books you’ve read more than once?
Lolita, Misery, and American Psycho. My total aesthetic.
Your ideal writing space?
My office at home with my candle burning and no one to bother me!
Another author’s voice you consider most in your own vein?
That’s very tough. I’m going to say Jonathan Ames.
Song most likely to get stuck in your head at the moment?
“Daughters” by The Story So Far
Top two items on your bucket list (if you have a bucket list)?
1. Go mooning. 2. Try not to be arrested while mooning.
If you could bring one dead author back from the dead and have a beer or coffee with, who would it be?
Edgar Allan Poe, that weird old sad sack.
What you’re writing at the moment?
Working on a YA novel filled with angry pubescent boys, classic Southern “no homo but actually yes homo” and a dash of gender crisis. A few Robyn staples.
Something most people would never guess about you?
I’ll let the space invaders take your children before I allow them near my precious dog.
Dog or cat person?
See above.
Weirdest thing that scares you?
The idea of someone breaking into my house. And no, that’s not an invitation.
Favorite holiday?
Halloween!
Ferris McDaniel
Best and worst movie you’ve seen recently?
Best movie: Parasite
Worst movie: Step Brothers (which in my opinion is one of the most undeserving movies to be as over-quoted as it is)
Favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
Probably a three-way tie between 1) really good cheese and a baguette 2) corned beef hash and eggs 3) leftover pizza
Books you’ve read more than once?
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Last Evenings on Earth by Roberto Bolaño, Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger and various excerpts from many others
Your ideal writing space?
In a crowded coffee shop where everyone else is also working very quietly and intently. I like writing in public spaces best, where I’m least likely to give in to impulses to put the work off. I also like activity around me and other bodies, except when that activity is loud conversation or a lot of aimless bustle.
Another author’s voice you consider most in your own vein?
I know the writers whose voices and styles I draw influence from, but it’s hard to know if my own work displays that. I guess if my voice would be compared to these writers, I’d be very honored: Roberto Bolaño, Henry Miller, Helen DeWitt, David Foster Wallace, Walt Whitman, Jorge Luis Borges.
Song most likely to get stuck in your head at the moment?
For whatever reason, when the weather starts to get cold, I turn to jazz, especially when writing. I think the song that’s stuck in my head right now is “Dinah (Take 2)” from Thelonious Monk’s Solo Monk, an old favorite of mine. It’s all instrumental, but I’ve been hearing Monk’s piano in my head all day lately.
Top two items on your bucket list (if you have a bucket list)?
I’d prefer to just keep telling myself that I’m never going to die and do what I want as those desires come in the meantime!
If you could bring one dead author back from the dead and have a beer or coffee with, who would it be?
I know his name keeps coming up a lot, but it’s got to be Roberto Bolaño. I was reading his essay “Literature + Illness = Illness” the other day, and when I finished, I became so sad that he’s not alive anymore. I think Barry Hannah is a close second here for many reasons.
What you’re writing at the moment?
I’m working on my first novel but also playing around with several stories when I need to step away from the novel for a breath.
Something most people would never guess about you?
Probably that I’ll eat pretty much any food and tend to love funky flavors but absolutely hate cantaloupe.
Dog or cat person?
Dog
Weirdest thing that scares you (or just something that scares you)?
My weirdest fear, without a doubt, is being beheaded or witnessing an accidental beheading.
Favorite holiday?
Christmas, but it’s the entire season before and after Christmas. People might say you shouldn’t need a reason to gather with your loved ones, but I actually really enjoy this specific reason for social gathering, especially since everyone seems so busy these days.
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