I had decided to retire the literary Would You Rather 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 are joined by CJ Friedman. CJ Friedman is a former food truck owner, solar salesman, and digital marketer. When he was 25, CJ lived within a Stephen King novel and was the caretaker of an off-the-grid eco-lodge in the woods of western Maine. During a two week stretch in which he saw no other people, CJ dreamt of a world that was controlled by bees and other insects. Then, while living in Philadelphia, he wrote The Bugs. CJ now lives in New Hampshire with his wife, toddler, and two senior pups.
Why do you write?
Stories are the best way to convey ideas. I want to help
spread the idea that being kind is a good thing. There’s still plenty of room
for drama and problems and suspense in the world full of kindness.
What made you start writing?
Reading Kurt Vonnegut. He showed me that it’s possible to be
absurd, real, sad, funny, inventive, and what not, all at once. I like that
aspect of fiction. It’s not bound by reality. But to be good, it has to be
deeply rooted in real problems and emotions.
What do you do when you’re not writing?
When I’m not writing or working my day-job, I hang out with
my wife and toddler, walk my dogs in the woods or around town, garden, play
hockey, read, think about practicing the guitar again.
If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
The ability to know the True answer to any question I ask.
Like, how can I build a room-temperature superconductor? Followed by, how can I
leverage that technology to improve life on earth? Followed by, how can I
ensure big oil doesn’t kill me for discovering this? Or something like: how can
I prove aliens exist? Oh, they’re already here on earth? They’re just octopi
and other creatures right in front of our faces! My goodness! What other
animals are aliens? What are they all doing on Earth!? Is it all going to be
okay in the end? Is there such thing as a soul? Does anything happen after I
die? Are we living in a simulation? If yes, how do we escape the simulation?
What came before the big bang? Is the big bang even real? That was the
simulation starting!? Is God real? You get the idea. I’ve been wanting to write
a story about this superpower for a long time, but given the capabilities and
answers I’d need to come up with, I’m having some trouble. It would be awfully
presumptuous.
Describe your book in three words.
Bugs monitor humanity.
Describe your book poorly.
Some bees hijack a young woman’s consciousness in order to
save the Earth from humanity’s destructive tendencies.
If you could spend the day with another author, who would
you choose and why?
Can I choose a dead author? Since the question’s open to
interpretation, I’ll assume yes. So in that case, I’d love to spend a day with
Aldous Huxley. It’d be fascinating to see his perspective on society and
culture in 2024 and how it resembles his essays and Brave New World.
What is your favorite way to waste time?
Walking in the woods. Though, admittedly, it is the furthest
thing from a waste of time. It does wonders for my mental health.
What are some of your favorite books and/or authors?
Island by Aldous Huxley; Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine
Evaristo; Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu; God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by
Kurt Vonnegut (or any of his books); Parable of the Sower and Parable of the
Talents by Octavia Butler; Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami; The Very
Persistent Gappers of Frip by George Saunders (I read this to my daughter all
the time); and my all-time favorite kids book that I love reading to my
daughter, All The World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee, to
name a few.
What songs would be on the soundtrack of your life?
Ocean by John Butler, Life Is Wonderful by Jason Mraz,
Ripple by Grateful Dead
If there’s room for one extra question: What scares you the most?
That I’m chasing the wrong dream.
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Bees, ants, spiders, flies-all of the bugs-monitor two things: the
health of planet Earth, and the planet's most influential inhabitants, the
humans. Should humanity show signs of irreversibly killing Earth, the bugs will
exterminate everyone. They'll then start the human experiment over with a fresh
batch of people, thanks to the DNA collected by mosquitoes.
To learn more:
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