This week, I talk to fiction writer Rion Amilcar Scott about his extraordinary fiction collection, The World Does Not Require You. We discuss the academic world, African-American folklore, religion, music, science fiction, and post-modernism.

This week's show features another pair of episodes from Miami Book Fair International.

On today's show, I share two interviews. The first is with the fiction writer and memoirist Tim O'Brien about how to live in this world.

The second is with the comic creator Chris Ware and his editor at Pantheon Books, Chip Kidd, with whom we discussed how design meshes with the content of a story.

In our discussion, Vanessa Blakeslee and I manage to talk about yuletide fellowship, hallucinogens, the possibility of St. Patrick's Day cookies, and other perennial holiday topics.

Music!

In this week’s episode, I talk once again with the graphic novelist, Peter Kuper, this time about his latest literary adaptation, Heart of Darkness. 

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

In this week’s episode, I talk with podcaster, editor, journalist, and journeyman writer Jonathan Small about how to build a career as a writer who gets paid and merges into the cultural styles of the magazines one writes for.

Check out Jonathan's excellent podcast, Write About Now.

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Please check out my Indiegogo campaign to help get me down to Miami for Miami Book Fair International this year. T-shirts will be available.

 Photo by Art Streiber.

In this week’s episode, I talk with the amazing Carmen Maria Machado about her new experimental memoir, In the Dream House, as well as her masterful debut, Her Body and Other Stories.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

In this week’s episode, I share the talk Patty Hawkins and I had about Todd Phillip's Joker. We put it in a Batman context, and frankly stray far afield from talking about the movie, but frankly the movie is worth straying from, too.

In this week’s episode, I interview Ron Cooper about Florida literature, research, the cultural tensions of Florida, and the mystery of existential characters.

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

If you are in Orlando on November 2nd from 6 to 9 PM, be a part of the book partyfor my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

There will be a raffle for those who show up, no purchase necessary. Raffle items include autographed books, a t-shirt, a gift package from bachelor Pad Magazine, a gift certificate for a medium sized literary tattoo, plus a framed, autographed poster featuring the book cover of Walter Mosley’s Debbie Doesn’t Do it Anymore.

Guy Psycho Book Launch Party

6-9 PM

1418 Clouser Ave, Orlando, FL 32804-6209

https://www.facebook.com/events/619433221793908/

Check out my earlier interview with Ron, back on Episode #210.

In this week’s episode, I interview Erik Deckersabout how he finished the novel he began as a resident at the Kerouac Project of Orlando.

TEXT DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out this early first episode of my new web series talk show about the history of Batman!

https://youtu.be/3TFvC8F37E0

If you are in Orlando on November 2nd from 6 to 9 PM, be a part of the book party for my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

There will be a raffle for those who show up, no purchase necessary. Raffle items include autographed books, a t-shirt, a gift package from bachelor Pad Magazine, a gift certificate for a medium sized literary tattoo, plus ...

this framed, autographed poster featuring the book cover of Walter Mosley's Debbie Doesn't Do it Anymore.

Guy Psycho Book Launch Party

6-9 PM

1418 Clouser Ave, Orlando, FL 32804-6209

https://www.facebook.com/events/619433221793908/

In this week’s episode, I wear an ugly shirt from outer space  to speak with Vanessa Blakeslee and Lisa Roney about Flannery O'Connor's Mysteries and Manners.

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

In this week’s episode, I talk with historian and crime writer Gilbert King about the history of justice and journalism, the role of luck in research, experimenting with presentation until a passage feels right, and how to manage one's doubts when pursuing a writing project.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Check out my first interview with Gilbert back on episode 60!

In this week’s episode, I talk with creative writer and Disney historian Todd James Pierce about the new developments in role-play storytelling that were and perhaps still are planned for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios park at Walt Disney World.

According to the end of the line cast member outside Oga's Cantina, you can't see all three of Batuu's suns, but you could certainly feel them, on a day called Heatstroke-in-the-Shade.

In this week’s episode, I talk with crime novelist Scott Phillips, author of The Ice Harvest, Cottonwood,Rake, The Adjustment, and other books.

Episode 382 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream.

In this week’s episode, I talk with Rick Moody about his new book, The Long Accomplishment: A Memoir of Hope and Struggle in Matrimony.

Photo by Laurel Nakadate

In this week’s episode, I talk with the fiction writer and essayist Deirdre Coyle about why fantasy can be more real than realism, the video game experience that happens inside our minds, and the joys of cutting extraneous words from manuscripts.

In this week’s episode, I talk with the novelist Binnie Kirshenbaum about finding one's voice, finding the right point-of-view, avoiding boredom, and the occasional hell of marketing literature.

[caption id="attachment_24695" align="alignnone" width="1243"]Photo by Tina Boyadjieva.[/caption]

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Art Spiegelman chose not to censor his essay on Marvel Comics, in which he likens the president to the Red Skull. Instead, he gave the essay to The Guardian.

Check out my alcoholic, literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

In this week’s episode, I talk with the memoirist Katherine Smyth about how literature fills our lives, and is there for us in peculiarly reassuring ways when we lose everything.

Photo by Frances F. Denny.[/caption]

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

RIP, Toni Morrison.

In this week’s episode, I talk with the poet Tim J. Myers about spirituality, open systems of belief, and the passion of our favorite music and favorite people.

Check out my first interview with Tim all the way back on episode 63.

Check out the AWP panel on life balance back on episode 362.

Or check out Tim's listicle, "Improved Terms for Some Currently-Known Stuff."

In this week’s episode, I talk with Liz Prato about being the best haole possible in Hawaii, the mixing of history and memoir, respecting the natural environment, and other important matters.

Photo by Jill Harriman Browning.

TEXT DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

In this week’s episode, I talk with Kendra DeColo about poetry, bohemian misadventures, editing, performing, and more.

Photo by Lindsey Rome.

In this week’s episode, I talk with Chet Weise, the publisher of Third Man Books.

Photo by Jamie Goodsell.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out my debut novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

In this episode, I share the most recent Loose Lips, the monthly current events literary thing run by Burrow Press, who selected me to curate and emcee this installment.

This installment featured Deirdre Coyle, Erik Deckers, Bethany DuVall, Corwin Moore, and Tom Lucas. Photos by Katherine J. Parker.

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out my debut novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

In this week’s show, I talk with the great Erica Jong about writing in one's voice, being in love with language, the discipline of literature, revision, 18th century fiction, living healthy, and sonnets and other poetry,

plus Vanessa Blakeslee and I discuss Erica Jong's book on writing, Seducing the Demon: Writing for my Life.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out my debut novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

In this week’s show, I talk with the fiction writer, children's book writer, and revision guru Arielle Haughee.

Picture by Sona Photography.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out my debut novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

Episode 372 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week's show, C.H. Hooks and I sit down with some questionable red wine to discuss Florida, Florida literature, and the uses we make of writing.

Photo by Miriam Berkley.

TEXT DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out my adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

This week, we go to Walt Disney World with Nathan Holic and David James Poissant in order to discuss Cory Doctorow’s science fiction novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.

In this week’s episode, I talk to the poet Deborah Landau about her wonderful new poetry collection, Soft Targets,

[caption id="attachment_24396" align="alignnone" width="4288"]Deborah Landau reading at AWP 2019. Photo by John King.[/caption]

plus I share Copper Canyon's poetry reading from the 2019 AWP Conference, which featured Javier Zamora, Ellen Bass, Deborah Landau, and Jericho Brown.

TEXT DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

In this week’s episode, I talk to Mitchell S. Jackson about finding joy in voice while dwelling on painful material in a memoir and novel.

[caption id="attachment_24376" align="alignnone" width="1000"]Mitchell S. Jackson by John Ricard.[/caption]

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

In this week’s episode, Vanessa Blakesleeand I discuss Eudora Welty's "Place in Fiction" (1955).

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

*

Check out my adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

And check out Vanessa's books, too.

In this week’s episode, I share my first mixtape in almost 2 years.

Happy writing. Let me know what you think below.

NOTES

Please buy me.

In this week’s episode, I talk with poet Campbell McGrath about his his new book, Nouns & Verbs, from a luminous lobby in Portland.

Photo by Freesia McKee.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Check out my previous interview with Campbell from 3 years ago, back on episode 203.

If a literary adventure might be your jam, please consider buying my exciting new novel.

In this week’s episode, I talk with poet and essayist Elisa Gabbert about the excitement of short-form essays, the glories of book design, not reading Moby Dick, and other literary confessions. 

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

If you are into literary adventure stories, please pick up a copy of my debut novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

In this week’s episode, David James Poissant turns the tables on John King and interviews him about the miraculous release of his epic novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

TEXT DISCUSSED

Here is the original Guy Psycho short story.

In this week’s episode, Chelsey Clammer, David James Poissant, Rion Amalcar Scott, and I discuss how to survive in the writing life before an AWP audience in Portland, Oregon.

NOTES

If you are anywhere near Miami, check out the O, Miami Poetry Festival.

Please review this show on iTunes.

My novel comes out next week.

In this week’s episode, I go back to Jack Kerouac's house to talk to fellow fiction writer and NYU alum Sara Batkie about Realism, Magic Realism, historical fiction, the composition of a story collection, NYU's MFA program, the upsides of reading for literary magazines, and our evolutions as writers.

TEXT DISCUSSED

In this week’s episode, Karen Price, Erik Deckers, Terry Ann Thaxton and I read Jack kerouac's poetry to the accompaniment of Ben Deckers's walking bass.

Breaking down the show. Photo by Steve Erwin.[/caption]

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Episode 360 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week’s episode, I talk to Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman about classical music, social class, memoir, and authenticity.

Photo by Vanessa Borer.

TEXT DISCUSSED

NOTES

TDO will be sharing a table with Black Fox Literary Magazine at AWP at table T14104, plus I am moderating a panel on life-balance, which I clearly know nothing about.

Also, my novel has a release date of April 16, 2019.

In this week’s episode, I talk again with Mark Blake, biographer of Peter Grant, about what happened to Led Zeppelin after Led Zeppelin.

Photo by Ross Halfin.[/caption]

TEXT DISCUSSED

In this week’s episode, I talk to music writer Mark Blake about his new biography of Peter Grant, the man who empowered Led Zeppelin to become the most popular rock band of all time.

Photo by Ross Halfin.[/caption]

TEXT DISCUSSED

NOTES

I will be at AWP. Leave a comment if you are attending and would like a TDO meet and greet.

In this week’s episode, I talk to fiction writer Chad Anderson near the end of his residency at The Kerouac House here in Orlando, Florida. We spoke about the importance of memories, including lost ones, in the creation of our realities (and the fictions representing those realities), the complications of family, the glory of a long residency, and Washing DC as a writer's city.

[caption id="attachment_24050" align="alignnone" width="4288"]Chad Anderson at The Kerouac House, photographed by John King.[/caption]

NOTES

Read Chad Anderson's Katherine Anne Porter Award winner, "Maidencane," here.

[caption id="attachment_24110" align="alignnone" width="4032"]Chad Anderson, Greg Proops, and moibackstage at the Hard Rock Live at Universal Studios, Orlando, in the apex of show business moments for your humble Drunken Odyssey.[/caption]

Check out Whose Live Anyway, in which the Whose Line is it Anyway cast improvs the hell out of a stage near your, probably, eventually.

Or Check out this farewell reading from Eleanor Matthews, the resident before Chad.

https://youtu.be/ODhjl3zHvRY

The application period for next year's Kerouac residents ends on March 10th. Apply here.

Come hear me pontificate with some wiser writers than I am at AWP!

In this week’s episode, I talk to fiction writer Teresa Carmody about the joys of making books, the patterns needed for experimental work, and approaching the musicality of writing like meditation.

Photo by Jared Alan Smith.

In this week’s episode, I talk to Todd James Pierce about his new biography of Ward Kimball from an epic corridor of The Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Check out Todd's site and podcast, The Disney History Institute.

Check out my previous interview with Todd back on Episode 218.

In this week’s episode, Vanessa Blakeslee and I survive reading Roland Barthes's "The Death of the Author" and "What is an Author?" by Michel Foucault.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Check Out Vanessa's Books!

NOTES

Suggested donation: $20, which comes with a glass of wine and food. Go herefor more details.

In this week’s episode, I chat with my friend Terry Ann Thaxton about poetry, parents, mortality, yard work, mud, and the underrated useful of writing prompts for professional writers. We were tired, but we laughed a lot.

John King and Terry Ann Thaxton at Jack Kerouac's house in Orlando. Jared Silvia is saying something behind us. Photo by Katherine J. Parker.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

In this week’s episode, I speak with the war veteran, journalist, and novelist Elliot Ackerman about composition and revision strategies, and the emotional access points from our own experience to the stories we tell.

[caption id="attachment_23972" align="alignnone" width="4416"]Photo by Huger Foote.[/caption]

TEXTS DISCUSSED

In this week’s episode, I speak with the Kerouac House's fall 2018 resident, Eleanor Matthews about Victorian novels, characterization and plots, and the connections between physical activity and creative writing.

In this week’s episode, I croak with Vanessa Blakeslee and Mark Pisczek about the Apollonian and Dionysian origins of storytelling as explored in Friedrich Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy.

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NOTES

If you live in Orlando, come hear Mark and his band, Strange Angels, play jazz at the Imperial at Washburn Imports this Thursday, January 17, 2019, 8-11 PM.

1800 N Orange BLVD / Orlando, FL 32804.

https://www.facebook.com/events/2187842224789407/

This week has Miami Book Fair International conversations with Ben Fountain,Celeste Ng, and Gary Shteyngart!

Ben Fountain and beverages in the Confucius Institute at Miami Dade College.

TEXTS DISCUSSED