Do you have a nickname?
Just Alan is fine.
What do you like to read?
Honestly, I read mostly literary fiction, and I enjoy Modernists in particular. My favorite author is Hermann Hesse, and some others that I really like include Virginia Woolf and Yukio Mishima. I'm actually criminally under-read as far as genre fiction goes, but my favorite work of fantasy is Gormenghast, and my favorite work of science fiction is Dhalgren.
What kind of stories do you write?
I suppose you could call it psychological fiction? My stories are mostly about people who have fallen down the rabbit hole in one way or another. I'm deeply concerned with the way that people seek knowledge and make sense of the world, whether through science, religion, or philosophy, especially when they don't get it quite right.
How would you describe your personality?
Rather than attempt to describe myself, I'll just say that I have a deep affinity with the main characters in Charlotte Bronte's Villette and Yukio Mishima's Confessions of a Mask.
What would you do this summer if you hadn't been accepted to Clarion?
My family had tentative plans to go to Spain for my brother's graduation, so that might have happened. More likely, though, I'd just be working.
Who will miss you most while you're in San Diego (cats, kids, partner, boss, coworkers)?
No one, really. Is that bad?
Have you participated in an intensive writing workshop before?
I've never even shared my writing with anybody outside of my family (excepting the stories I submitted for the application to Clarion), so I'm incredibly nervous but also excited for this summer.
What scares you most about Clarion?
I'm scared that my writing is bad and I just don't know it yet.
What do you do to relax or for recreation?
Besides reading and writing, I like to travel and hike. I want to visit all of the National Parks one day!
What 1-2 essential things will you bring to Clarion besides your laptop, watergun, and espresso maker?
My stuffed platypus. His name is Plato.
What is your ideal career?
Well, we all want to be writers, right? But if I couldn't be a writer, I think I would like to be a museum curator.
What else do you want us to know about you?
Nothing else for now. I just want to say I can't wait to meet everybody!
I'm tempted to bring my stuffed Gizmo. What's your favorite Woolf novel? It's okay to say Mrs. Dalloway. I'll forgive you.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually The Waves. Does that get your stamp of approval?
DeleteYes! That gets triple-stamped. I love Mrs. Dalloway too, but The Waves is just so one-of-a-kind and perfectly executed, it makes me sad so many people overlook it.
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ReplyDeleteGormeghast is def, one of my favorite books... I have quite an obsession with Peake...
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I also have a goal to visit all of the National Parks (I just knocked off Big Bend a few weeks ago)! Maybe we'll be able to plan an excursion to Joshua Tree or Channel Islands one of the weekends....
ReplyDeleteI've gone kayaking around the Channel Islands and it's tons of fun. They're also populated by these adorable tiny foxes! Joshua Tree is great too, and me and some friends used to go out every year while in college.
DeleteAdmittedly despite living here four years I have yet to get out to Joshua Tree. I am all for a hiking excursion at some point!!
DeleteTINY FOXES?!
DeleteAlso, to Alan/Jha/everbody, yes: let's all of the adventures, all the (non-writing, non-sleeping) time. I'll add "Camelbak" to my must-bring list.
Yes, please—tell more of the tiny foxes?
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