In a way, this is the opposite of an interview: a series of conversations held exclusively between chatbots. At n+1, Nick Levine constructs dialogue straight out of Beckett. Pair with Houmon Barekat on Finn Brunton’s history of spam.
I’m Good
“I was sad as I began to think that I might be gay.”
Recommended Listening: Andrew Solomon’s Moth story, “My Post-Nuclear Family.” (Solomon’s work has previously been shouted out in our Year in Reading series by Millions staffers Hannah Gersen and Edan Lepucki.)
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My hangovers are scheduled a year in advance.
John Waters on parents, aging, routine, gangsta rap, and WikiLeaks.
Draw a Novel
Recommended reading (and doodling): an excerpt from an upcoming translation of Martin Solares's How to Draw a Novel, complete with diagrams and squiggling lines. Pair with our own Hannah Gersen's look at authors's methods for drawing and mapping their own novels-in-progress.
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“Between research and reflection”
The LA Times has a review up of Eula Biss's On Immunity: An Innoculation, an "elegant, intelligent and very beautiful book, which occupies a space between research and reflection." We covered the collection in our Second-Half 2014 Book Preview, and Biss's first book, Notes from No Man's Land, has appeared in several Millions pieces over the last few years.
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“Writing isn’t entirely mental.”
"Writing isn’t entirely mental. You’re a physical being, and sometimes when your writing is broken, it’s your body that needs attention, not your mind.” Rebecca Makkai has some tips for breaking writer's block and a very cool perspective on writing as a whole person. Pair with our interview with Makkai about her latest novel, The Hundred-Year House.