The 40 But 10 Interview Series: Alex Carrigan

 

I had retired the literary Would You Rather interview series, but didn't want to stop interviews on the site all together. Instead, I've pulled together 40ish questions - some bookish, some silly - and have asked authors to limit themselves to answering only 10 of them. That way, it keeps the interviews fresh and connectable for all of us!

 

Today, we're joined by Alex Carrigan. Alex (he/him) is a Pushcart-nominated editor, poet, and critic from Virginia. His debut poetry chapbook, May All Our Pain Be Champagne: A Collection of Real Housewives Twitter Poetry (Alien Buddha Press, 2022), was longlisted for Perennial Press' 2022 Chapbook Awards. He has had fiction, poetry, and literary reviews published in Quail Bell Magazine, Lambda Literary Review, Barrelhouse, Sage Cigarettes (Best of the Net Nominee, 2023), Stories About Penises (Guts Publishing, 2019), and more. For more information, visit carriganak.wordpress.com or follow him on Twitter @carriganak.

 

What made you start writing?

 I’ve always been interested in creative works since I was a kid. I was the imaginative one who was off on his own assigning characteristics to inanimate objects or watching the same movies and TV shows over and over again. So it was natural for me to want to learn about different kinds of stories and characters and work on them.

 

What really got me into writing in particular was joining literary groups in college. That exposure to other writers and their work made me think about what kind of writer I wanted to be and how I could stand next to them. What kind of writing I’ve done has gradually evolved over the years, and at the moment I’m working as a poet who focuses on influences from other works and filtering that through my own perspective.

 

Describe your book in three words.

 If I had to describe May All Our Pain Be Champagne: A Collection of Real Housewives Twitter Poetry in three words, they’d be “insane online honesty.”

What are some of your favorite websites or social media platforms?

 I was actually pretty passive and adverse to social media and really only got onto it because my college journalism classes made me. I’d say the one I use the most is Twitter because I’ve really been able to make connections there and find a lot of calls for submissions in the process. It’s also good for working on brevity and wit, and I think that has helped me become a much snappier writer in the process.

 

What is your favorite way to waste time?

 I’ve really come to enjoy finding foreign media to watch. I usually find a few anime series each season to watch, but I’ve also lately been watching a lot of foreign reality competition series. It turns out the Netherlands and South Korea are making some of the best ones with shows like Wie is de mol? and The Genius. I also recently binged a UK series called The Traitors which was a wild ride of dramatic irony and has made me obsessed with Claudia Winkelman, so it’s one I have to recommend.

 

What are you currently reading?

Most of my reading is done in the service of writing reviews, but for the most part, I’m trying to read a lot of works that are from perspectives and backgrounds far different than my own. I’m reading a lot of work by female authors and BIPOC authors because I want to give their work attention. As a bisexual author, I’m also making sure to read a lot of LGBTQIAP+ literature. Most of what I’ve been reading lately has been poetry, but there’s a few short story collections I’ve had in my sphere, so I’m looking into those as well.

 What genres won’t you read?

A few years ago, I got a review query for a splatterpunk book. Having never heard of it before then, I looked up what the genre entailed and thought it sounded interesting. I figured that I’ve seen enough excessively violent and sexual media before, and that I could alter my review expectations to review the book for how it could fit into the genre.

 

That was a complete mistake. That book ended up being the worst book I’ve ever read and I hated every moment reading it. It wasn’t even that it was excessively violent and sexual, it was that it was that and somehow managed to be so bleak and dark that it became completely boring in the process. It didn’t help that I found the entire cast of characters to be horribly unlikeable and even their deaths didn’t make me feel better. I was expecting a campy, grindhouse spectacle, and instead I got awful people doing gross and unpleasant things and for absolutely no pathos.

 

It also didn’t help that I realized I couldn’t fully write a negative review. I tried writing a review about how bad this book was as a splatterpunk work, and it felt like the whole time some voice was laughing at me for potentially missing the point and that my feelings towards it were the wrong way to feel, which feels antithetical to reviewing to begin with if I have to accept things as they are and can’t criticize them for failing to meet those expectations. I was miserable after I finished the review and buried it on some site I no longer visit. It forced me to admit that splatterpunk is not my thing, but at the very least I’ve come to accept limits as a reviewer. Now, if I find a book where I can’t find anything to recommend, I simply won’t do the review. I haven’t had this happen yet (which is a sign of the quality of the work I’ve gotten since then), but it’s helped me learn that I have limits as a reviewer and reader.

 

 Do you read the reviews of your books or do you stay far far away from them, and why?

 I’ve so far only have had one full review of my work, and I desperately want more. I was terrified to read it, but as a reviewer, I figured I needed to be prepared for whatever came. I do encourage more reviews of my work, as I’ve also gotten very few on Amazon and Goodreads, but I’m also curious why people may not like my work and want to see what it could be. I’m open for a discussion, and I’m curious what people could bring forward to me about my book.

 

If you were on death row, what would your last meal be?

 Chicken alfredo, garlic bread, Caesar salad, apple crisp with vanilla ice cream, and a pitcher of sweet tea.

 

What songs would be on the soundtrack of your life?

 I’m a huge sucker for pop music and its various subgenres, so I’d really love a fun mix of pop music. My favorite band is Florence + The Machine and I’ve seen them twice in concert, so they’d have to be on there. I’d also love to see some Nina Simone, Janelle Monae, Ellie Goulding, Carly Rae Jepsen, Marina, CHVRCHES, Kate Bush, Yoasobi, and some surprises.

What’s the one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?

The people who will matter will be the people who will try to stay in your life for the better. The people who mock you and make your life miserable will disappear into the ether someday and you will never have to think about them again. Those who matter will stay by you and make sure you’re okay, and you can always find more people who will support and love you, and they will show that in ways you may never expect.

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"May All Our Pain Be Champagne: A Collection of Real Housewives Twitter Poetry is the debut poetry chapbook of Alex Carrigan. Carefully curated from hundreds of tweets from 16 current and former members of the Real Housewives television franchise, this collection turns the social media ramblings of figures like Bethenny Frankel, Brandi Glanville, Erika Girardi, Jen Shah, and more."

Buy the book here: 

https://www.amazon.com/May-All-Our-Pain-Champagne/dp/B09TDSWX83/ref=sr_1_1?crid=GV6L4E5WV9YR&keywords=may+all+our+pain+be+champagne&qid=1661220208&sprefix=%2Caps%2C49&sr=8-1