Tuesday, September 11, 2007

As If You Hadn't Heard Enough From Me Already

The estimable Steven North (no relation, insofar as I know, to the enigmatic character in Brian Martin's novel), has published an interview with me in the newish but rapidly expanding Pan Macmillan interview archive.

I do go on, don't I?

15 comments:

Jeremy James said...

Awesome interview, David.

Suroopa said...

Fantastic interview! Best for the book. Heaven knows when it will reach my doorsteps.

Anonymous said...

Yes, a good interview - very enjoyable!

Aliya

lorenzo212 said...

David,
Congratulations on publications!
I ordered one through Lido Bookstore, and he is seeking to obtain them, as it was supposed to be available on the 7th of September, but he promises he will find me a first edition!(And a few otheres for the store) I get all my books from him, he is a good man and one of the last independent booksellers! He just found me a novel about Conan Doyle I had been seeking for a while.
Perhaps we can also do a promo in front of some theatre audiences - and I will mention it this saturday at SCWA
Again, congrats!
Larry Porricelli

David Isaak said...

Jeremy, Suroopa, Aliya--

My god, you actually read it? I'm blushing.

David Isaak said...

Larry--

Hey, what a surprise.

I'm not sure where Lido Books is, but I'll be sure to look them up (when I get back from this trip, anyhow). They sound like what a bookstore's supposed to be!

Jake Jesson said...

C'mon, David, all the good interviews are at least that long. (As steeped in the internet 'fan' culture as I am, I read alot of those things.)

Great interview, by the way. Although while reading your influences, I began realizing with growing horror that I hadn't read anything by any of the authors you listed in that section. (Although I'm reading both Labyrinths and Wicked at the moment. Coincidence? Or conspiracy?)

Faye L. Booth said...

Great stuff! So is this your first official interview?

Unknown said...

Hi, David,

Can you elaborate on this:

'Roger Zelazny for the idea that a diction drop can be a tool rather than a mistake.'?

David Thayer said...

You sound like an old hand at the interview game. You understand your characters...fabulous.

David Isaak said...

Jake--

Borges and Maguire at the same time? Now that's interesting! Write something quick--I want to see what the two of them at the same time do to your prose.

David Isaak said...

Hi, Faye

Yep, my first interview. (For all I know, my only interview.)

Are you starting to get excited by the looming of November?

David Isaak said...

Hi, Neil

Sure, happy to elaborate, especially since the reference was probably a bit opaque. Zelazny was the first author I found who would soar into mythic or poetic language, strut along in pomp and majesty, and then suddenly drop into very colloquial language as a way of undercutting his own pompousness and humanizing the situation. Lord of Light was the first time I noticed the phenomenon.

Inept writers do this sort of thing all the time by accident, dropping Chandleresque diction into the middle of Melvillean high diction. It was Zelazny that made me realize it could be a technique rather than an error.

I'll post on this when I get home from this current trip, as it's a fun topic.

David Isaak said...

Hey, Mr Thayer--

Yeah, I understand my characters--in retrospect. I'm a real champ at figuring things out once they've already happened.

I'd be a stock market whiz, if only I had a time-travel device...

Jake Jesson said...

I plan on it, David. :) Now if I can just get time... (I should be writing an essay at this very moment.)