Nick Antosca
http://brothercyst.blogspot.com/
Nick Antosca is the author of two novels: Fires (2006, Impetus Press) and Midnight Picnic (2009, Word Riot Press). Antosca was born in Louisiana and currently lives in New York City.
Nick Antosca—
If you’re in New York: The Rubin Museum on 17th st. screens David Lynch’s Blue Velvet tomorrow night, Friday 1/15, at 9:30 to accompany their awesome, ending-soon exhibit of The Red Book by Jung. Info here. I’ll be briefly introducing the film. There’s a Q & A about it @ The L Magazine here.
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Nick Antosca—
“An Australian study found that every hour per day spent sitting in front of a TV or monitor raises your risk of early death from heart disease by 18%, even if you exercise and aren’t overweight.” What??? (via Jezebel)
SURFING FOR WRITERS
riding giants
So last night while I was under hypnosis, my hypnotherapist, who is also a friend from school, was trying to return me to the memory of being in a mental & physical place where I could write with intense focus and without distractions. And something fairly strange happened.
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REASONS YOU SHOULD NOT DATE WRITERS (IF YOU ARE A WRITER)
not a writer
1. Writing is not mysterious to them, so they will not romanticize, mythologize, or idealize what you do.
INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL HANEKE
apparently not a Haneke self-portrait
So I interviewed Michael Haneke about his new film The White Ribbon, which just opened in the United States and won the Palme D’Or at Cannes last May. You know Haneke, I think: Cache, Funny Games, The Piano Teacher, Code: Unknown, Benny’s Video… yes, you know Michael Haneke. Perhaps you even agree with me that he’s one of the world’s greatest living directors.
jolly!
We did the interview in a hotel in midtown Manhattan. He was slender and well-dressed with a beard the color of Malamute fur. As others have observed, he’s disarmingly pleasant in person—even jolly. If he weren’t so thin, he could be Santa Claus.
Even if you’re prepared for it, it’s remarkable to note first-hand how the cruelty, despair, humiliation and horror of his films have no counterpart in his demeanor. Actually, more than anything, he seems professorial.
Our Q & A is below. I’ve condensed some of my questions and remarks to streamline/clarify, and so you don’t have to read as much from me, but I’ve preserved just about every word Haneke said, intelligibility of the tape allowing. His English is fairly good, but unless otherwise noted, he’s speaking through a translator.
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Nick Antosca: Are you afraid to die?
Nick Antosca—
What begins tomorrow? Is it “two thousand ten” or “twenty ten”? …Shouldn’t we start getting used to saying “twenty” as the first part? We’re not still going to be saying “two thousand fifty” in 2050, right?
TEATRO GROTTESCO BY THOMAS LIGOTTI
hello friend
So for a while, whenever I looked at Amazon’s page for one of my own obscure books, the system recommended something called Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti. According to the unfathomable Amazonian formula, if you liked one, you might like the other. (Because both their covers feature masks?) Ligotti’s name came randomly to my attention other ways, too. I’d be searching for something unrelated and a relevant keyword would pop up in some message board post about Ligotti. I found a site devoted entirely to his work, which by then I realized had a hardcore cult following.
The work itself sounded Lovecraftian in content and style. I don’t like Lovecraft much. A purple writer with visceral but repetitive and fairly superficial ideas. But out of curiosity I finally bought Teatro Grottesco. I’m pleased to report that it’s fucking phenomenal.
COOL STUFF
– Jackie Corley’s Word Riot Press, which published Midnight Picnic by me, just announced that they’re going to be publishing collections of short stories by the excellent Paula Bomer, former HTMLGIANT contributor and good friend of mine (here’s a short story by Paula called “A Galloping Infection”) and the excellent Mike Young, editor of NOO Journal and also a good friend of mine (here’s a short story by Mike called “Ten Gallon Bucket of Fries”).
– New story by I. Fontana at Spork.
– I was walking through the grass today and saw a black snake as long as my arm but as thin as a pencil go slithering right in front of me.
– A huge pink-eyed white cat was yowling under my window at dawn.
– Did you read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell? I read it on a plane. It made me think I can never be successful.
– I can’t wait to read The Pregnant Widow by Martin Amis. (Great title.) I get the feeling most of my literary peers don’t like Amis much.
TIME DESTROYS ALL THINGS
I tried to write a Christmas message in the sand this afternoon, but within twenty seconds…
Nick Antosca—
I made nine submissions to lit mags in 2009. (My lowest total ever since I started tracking. Got busy with longer pieces this year.) They were all in the last two months. One was rejected; the others are still outstanding. How was your year, submissions-wise? Did you send out more than ten? More than a hundred? Any acceptances/sales/publications you’re especially proud of?