Ask the Author: Sean Lovelace
[Roxane Gay / November 29th, 2009 / Interviews ]Sean Lovelace gives us Why I Never Say No to Coffee in the November issue and talks about the best coffee, the poetics of flash fiction, and of course, nachos.
1. Which coffee is better: Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks?
They both suck. That is posh coffee. Gas station coffee is best. Coffee is a drug, and like all good drugs, should kill you while you use it.
2. Do you know someone like the protagonist in “Why I Never Say No To Coffee”?
Sure. We all do. Writers who think publishing is the goal of writing. Great, you got published. Very good.
3. Have you actually tried a V-Bismol? Â If so, what’s the appeal?
I am working on a long term project to have three taps come out of the wall of my kitchen: beer, Sprite Zero, Pepto Bismol. (These are the only beverages I drink, period) So far, I only have the beer tap, which was easy to install. The Sprite Zero tap is a pain, and Coca Cola (the corp) has not been helpful. They actually DISCOURAGE home soda fountains of their products. So I have had to use Ebay and so on. I just had to clean out a gravity line last night! Sucks. Anyway, it’s about half done. Now, the Pepto one is a bitch! They don’t make Pepto kegs. But I am working on it, and a stainless steel tap with that wonderful pink flowing out will happen! It’s just going to cost me a lot of money and time. Oh, to your question, the appeal is that color. What a pink! Yes, I have mixed it with vodka. Who hasn’t?
4. I often find flash fiction closer to poetry than fiction, especially this story because of lines such as “My body warmed with anxiety; the skin prickled. I drank three more V-Bismols, took another cold bath, the phone sitting like a hope grenade on the toilet lid. Seven minutes later it exploded.” Â Does poetry influence your fiction? Â If so, which poets influence your fiction style.
Yes. I hope all flash is trying to be a poem. Writing good poetry is the hardest task of all (Writing bad poetry is easy–ask anyone…oh god). I wish every fiction writer in the world read poetry for ten years first. Arlene Ang I love for her specificity and use of objects, always. Sarah Manguso the same. I would like to marry and divorce both of them and then be friends after.
5. What is your favorite breed of dog?
Every dog I have had I didn’t like. Ok, maybe one, “Hector.” He was a dachshund.
6. I saw an abundance of entries about nachos on your blog. Â What is with your obsession with nachos?
They are so open-ended, so alive, and you have to make them. You eat the art you create. More things should be this way.
Sure. We all do. Writers who think publishing is the goal of writing. Great, you got published. Very good.
Ha!
Great Arlene Ang shout. Her recent pieces in Diagram and Confrontation are insane. She makes me question why I am happy with anything I write.