A writer I have come to know and admire over the last year, Dani Burlinson, asked me to participate in The Next Big Thing, a chain of writers blogging about their upcoming projects. I first stumbled upon Dani’s hilarity on McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, probably my favorite publication, in her column Dendrophilia and Other Social Taboos. She is also a staff writer for Marin’s alternative newspaper, The Pacific Sun, and recently won an actual prize from the Bohemian for telling a story about her worst date ever. She got to interview Jolie Holland once. I covet her life as a writer majorly. You can read her Next Big Thing post here. But now, behold as I interview myself for my own Next Big Thing…
A place in Inverness where I like to write.
What is your working title of your Next Big Thing?
Half-assed Buddhist
Where did the idea come from for the story?
You know how most people get an idea, write a book, and then come up with a title? I like to come up with a title and then write a book around it. Sometimes when I come up with a title I’m not sure if it’s going to go on my list of imaginary band names or future book titles. When I thought of this one, I bought the domain name, just in case. It spoke to me, the idea of being a half-assed Buddhist. I felt like it was a moniker I could really commit to. (Yes, irony noted.) Then I realized that I’d been writing it all along, right here in this here blog.
What genre does your story fall under?
Self-effacing biographical humor mixed with bossy D.I.Y Buddhist manual for lazy cheapskates.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I would be played by Tea Leoni circa Flirting With Disaster and the Buddha would be played by fat Marlon Brando.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your story?
For those of us who like the idea of being Buddhist but aren’t ready to give up swearing, pill-popping, wine swilling, bitch bashing or meat eating, this book is a reassuring D.I.Y. for how to be kind of Buddhist.
Will your story be self-published or represented by an agency?
Well we’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Yeah, about that. I’m really more in the “mind draft” stage at this point. In the immortal words of Tobias Funke: “It’s good. It’s good. It’s GOING to be good.”
What other stories would you compare this story to within your genre?
There’s a little bit of Dharma Punx in there; a little bit of Eat, Pray, Love; a little bit of Bossypants; maybe a smidge of Running With Scissors.
Who or what inspired you to write this story?
My childhood. Oh wait, sorry, I thought I was talking to the rapist for a sec. That usually turns out to be the right answer to her questions. Um, I would say it came from my experience in the yoga world and how that parlayed into a lot of Buddhist dabbling over the last few years. I struggle with the “be okay with myself” versus “be on a path” conundrum a lot. Often, I feel torn. Am I supposed to be okay with myself? Or am I supposed to be trying to change and be better? Which is it? Sometimes, I lean in the direction of being better at being myself; other times, I lie on the couch and drool while mindlessly watching bad television and shoveling chocolate into my face hole. It’s usually organic, cruelty-free chocolate, but still.
What else about your story might pique the reader’s interest?
There will be lots of Venn diagrams, pie charts and bar graphs.
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And passing it along, over the next few weeks I’ve invited these fellow Next Big Thing-ers to tell you about their upcoming projects:
Rachel Meyer
Will be blogging about a compilation of down-to-earth narrative essays on yoga philosophy and urban life, tentatively titled Bartendasana: Martini-Soaked Tales for the Rogue Yogi, at her blog, www.rawrach.com.
Jordan Chaney
Will be blogging about his genius (my word, I’ve read it) new book Rocket Fuel for Dreamers. It’s a collection of spoken word poems that discuss the inner workings of the human soul when it comes to triumph over tragedy.
Rebecca Pacheco
WIll be blogging about her Next Big Thing: a book, due in Spring 2014, called Do Your Om Thing. She’ll post on her Current Big Thing, her blog Omgal. which wins awards and shit, because in addition to being drop-dead gorgeous, hysterically funny and also just a real cool lady who I am pleased to call my friend, she’s also basically a genius with words.
Matthew Teague Miller
Matthew’s tentative (barring any legal issues) title for his book (his Next Big Thing) is Girlie Man. Read all about it on his blog, Ennui Overdrive, next week.
Jill Abelson
Jill’s Next Big Thing is her recently-released book Extra Love: The Art of Hands-on Assists, a great manual about learning to give hands-on assists in a yoga class. At left is a picture of Jill with a bonus shot of the famous Tom Lee. Jill will be telling us all about her book next week-ish!
