Fieldwork
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE LOCK ME IN THE IVORY TOWER
July 9 ’10Or perhaps a well appointed Unabomber cabin with a nice view. Sometimes a writer needs to be isolated.
KATIE ARNOLDI INTERVIEWS KATIE ARNOLDI
July 6 ’10Some things should not be left unsaid: questions need to be answered.
MARIJUANA PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA
June 5 ’10According to the latest HIDTA report, California produces more Outdoor Grown Marijuana than Mexico. HIDTA stands for High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. It is a government program that coordinates drug control efforts among local, State, and Federal law enforcement agencies. There are 32 HIDTAs in the U.S. and the report was compiled from information gathered [...]
Me and Tequila: A Romance
May 3 ’10Pablo Schwartz, a character in my new novel Point Dume, has an encyclopedic knowledge of tequila. I know that once the book is published, many readers are going to wonder how on earth Pablo knows so very much about the subject. What kind of research did I have to do? How did I write that [...]
I Thought I Poisoned William Vollmann
April 17 ’10Last week, I had the incredible, unbelievable, amazing, opportunity to interview one of my literary heroes, William Vollmann. Who is more awesome than Bill Vollmann? He is the master of fieldwork. He goes where no sane person would ever think to venture, puts himself into incredibly dangerous situations then brings back insights that, in my [...]
Bat Soup
March 1 ’10Sometimes the writer simply has to go on vacation. The pressures of constant fieldwork, the huge abundance of creative energy, the day to day maintenance of basic sanity, the constant voices in one’s head… When it all becomes overwhelming, the only thing to do is to get on an airplane and fly to Palau. And [...]
