A surprise Q&A!
Read my feature interview below:
Hi everyone! I promise I’ll write some more wine reviews soon. Let me tempt you by saying that I recently drank a beer from a famous patriotic actor who starred in Cheers and Frasier… but I’ll reveal who that is later. Right now, I want to share some exciting news I’ve been sitting on: like many of my gifted peers at Iowa, I did a Q&A with the ‘5Q’ series. It’s basically a way to get to know a promising writer’s work and it’s a big honor. I’m reprinting mine below. They’re usually short but uhhh let’s just say things got a bit strange!
Isaac, how are you?
Is that one of my five questions? KIDDING!
Who are some of the writers that inspire you?
Ooh that’s interesting. Well, I really love tragic characters. Essays and novels about people who don’t learn lessons, who can’t get out of their own way; people who, when given the opportunity to change, don’t. So probably the guy who wrote The Greatest Showman.
Do you have a daily writing practice?
Absolutely! I believe writing is a muscle — although, well, it’s not a muscle because I don’t think you can ever truly train it. Sorry, do over.
That’s not how the 5Q series works.
Well then splice these two things together. Yes, I write every day, whether it’s working out a thought I’m wrestling with or making a sketch of a character or even writing a postcard to a friend — sorry, is it hot in here?
What are you doing?
If you don’t like my hand there I can definitely move it.
What books are you currently reading?
Pass!
What is the inspiration for your work right now?
Can we be off the record for a second? I honestly feel like you’ve been trying to do this whole ‘gotcha’ thing from the moment I walked in. This is the 5Q series: it’s a big deal for me! I’m under a lot of pressure right now and, yeah, maybe I’m just a little nervous. Who are you texting? Good, put the phone down. Now look at me. There was something I really liked about you when I first saw you. Nice teeth, all that. And you have to admit: I sounded pretty smart on that ‘writers who inspire you’ question, don’t you think? Why don’t we start over, I’ll be your little marionette doll, we play nice, kapish?
Please stop giving me an Indian burn. I know we’re not allowed to call it that anymore but it’s exactly what you’re doing to me.
[Redacted.]
Favorite writer dead or alive?
Donna Tartt. Anad dead.