- Really Uninterested in this??
This is a little different post folks. This is an interview with Jesse James Freeman, Author of “Billy Purgatory: I am Devil Bird” that I am conducting with Jesse.
Jim and I have been friends for over 25 years and have had many adventures together.
This is another chapter…
1. Where and when did Billy come to you?
First of all, thanks Robert for wanting to interview me on your blog - I really appreciate it.
The idea for Billy came to me in its earliest form about 10 years ago. I first thought it up because I was living in Los Angeles at the time and writing movie scripts and a lot of the ideas my writing partner and I were coming up with at the time were pretty complicated. I wanted a simple idea that didn't involve a lot of world building and what I came up with was a skateboard kid that fought a different 'mythological creature of the week', he had a Vietnam Vet father who had fought monsters back in the war. I wrote a little script - had no idea what I was going to do with it then - I was thinking maybe a comic book. I did eventually turn it into a short comic with the help of artist Moses Jaen and we printed them in a zine called Blinky's at San Deigo Comic-Con a few years back. It would still be a couple years beyond that before I ultimately would have the idea to turn Billy into a novel, and that's how we arrive at Billy Purgatory: I am the Devil Bird.
2. How far do you see this book going?
I really didn't know to be completely honest. I knew that I wanted to get it published, but I had no idea how to go about doing that. The only thing I did know to do was to start writing, so that's what I did - it was the only part of any of it that I could control. I'm pretty sure a lot of people thought that I was crazy, writing a book. I had never written one before and I didn't have a clue just how hard writing a novel would turn out to be. Sometimes I didn't understand how to stay motivated and wondered if I was wasting a lot of time sitting at my computer when I could be out doing fun stuff - not that writing isn't fun.
I owe a lot of my success to Twitter, and I know that you tried to get me on Twitter for a long time, so in hindsight, many thanks. I met a lot of really smart and friendly writers on Twitter, one of them happened to be author Tess Hardwick. Tess liked the description of the book that I was writing and wanted to read it - why, I have no idea - but she took a chance and she liked it enough to pass it on to her publishers at Booktrope.
3. How many times have you been asked the same questions about your book?
*Laughs* It's not just me - a lot of authors get asked a lot of the same questions. We mostly get asked about 'the writing process' - mine has a lot to do with obsession and DosXX.
4. If we ended up on an island together, what do you think we'd need to survive?
All I know about islands is what I learned from watching LOST, so I'd have my fingers crossed there'd be a Dharma Hatch filled with food and supplies and a turntable. I think I could do without all the rest of that stuff - but the no music would get pretty old. I figure it wouldn't be too long before we were insane, quoting Sisters of Mercy lyrics to one another.
I also used to do personal assistant work for Dawn "Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island" Wells - she didn't teach me how to survive on any islands, but the lady can still bake a mean coconut pie!
5. Do you believe that there could be a Satanic 5 at work now?
I completely believe there is a Satanic 5 working behind the scenes - it's the only explanation I can come up with for reality TV, having to watch my sugar intake, or lite beer.
6. Could a Time Zombie appear at anytime in real life like in the book?
Total fabrication on my part: the zombie outbreak is an inevitability, but everyone knows that you can't travel back and forth in time - if that was possible I'd already be dating a Spice Girl.
7. Just how BIG is Aphrodite’s Ass really?
It's so big that when she sits around the Parthenon she sits AROUND the Parthenon. It's so big that Ares doesn't carry a shield anymore he just tells her to go first and back dat-ass-up. It's so big that when she danced around Apollo's chariot the Oracle of Delphi predicted an eclipse.
8. Where do you see yourself in 5 years after the movie has been shot?
Believing that someone would ever read the book and throw serious Hollywood muscle behind a movie project is a dream that is just too surreal for me to even think about right now. It's a very humbling idea, and I can't let myself get bogged down with things like that and I still have tons more writing to do. All that being said, if there are any producers reading please contact me directly. If there are any fashion designers reading, I'll need a man's sized suit for that whole red carpet thing.
9. What are some of your aspirations for yourself?
I'd be very happy when I reach that point where I can write full-time. That's my only aspiration, seriously, I'm not so interested in lots of money (I will still cash the checks, though) or fame or any of that. I would just like to tell stories 24/7/365.
10. You and I have been friends a long time; do you see us being friends for a long time to come?
That's the easiest question of all of them. We'll always be friends - thanks for the support, brother.
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Jesse James Freeman : https://twitter.com/#!/JesseJFreeman : http://billypurgatory.wordpress.com/
Jesse James Freeman : https://twitter.com/#!/JesseJFreeman : http://billypurgatory.wordpress.com/
"Science is magic that works."
- K. Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle
- K. Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle
"when you meet a man who is a master swordsman, show him your sword; when you meet a man who is not a poet, don't show him your poem"
-lin chi
-lin chi
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