Interview with a vampire. I mean writer.

Marshall Payne interviews me in the Super-Sekrit Clubhouse about my writing habits, life in California, and fecal matter. An excerpt:

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I found your story “Break the Vessel” unique in its combination of a scatology theme and a traditional fantasy setting. Could you tell us about why you chose this theme and about the reaction you’ve received from it?

Oh, there’s probably a lot of fantastic poop stories locked away by shy spinsters living alone in garrets. They just couldn’t find publishers.

“Break the Vessel” came from some historical research I did for another project. Louis XIV, the Sun King, is possibly the closest thing European history has to a god-king. The royal hands were too important to touch the royal butt, so a courtier took care of the dirty work. Since the courtier would get a few minutes daily alone with the king, he could influence the king’s decisions in private. So this job was highly coveted.

Combined with my general contempt of authority, the story pretty much wrote itself.

Reactions have been almost entirely positive, aside from some people who are really grossed out by bodily functions.

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Read the full interview here.

2 thoughts on “Interview with a vampire. I mean writer.”

Speaking of poop stories, have you read _Ice_ by Orson Scott Card? It’s the only other story that I can think of that treats poop as a central concern. Borrow his collection _Maps in a Mirror_ from the library and read it post-haste. It’s really excellent.

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