April 5 / 2022
[On writing, BLACKOUT, The Quatrain Laws, and a teaser]
~ 2,200 // 3 hours 15 minutes

<Contains Spoilers>

[It is recommended that you have read BLACKOUT, and The Quatrain Laws before reading this interview]

*The camera cuts back after the commercial break, and after panning over the crowd, focuses on the center of the stage. On the stage two people are sitting, facing the crowd, and slightly turned towards each other*

HD:” Welcome back to the Helen Degenerates evening show! I’m your host, Helen Degenerates. Joining us today is my good friend, even though we don’t know each other, The Author!”

*The crowd remains completely silent, except for a handful of paid individuals planted among the crowd, who clap excitedly*

The Author:” No, no, that’s not correct. I’m not an author. I’m a writer. There’s a difference. Please, call me The Writer.”
HD:” Alright then; Joining us today is my friend, The Writer! So, why do you write? Beyond having to get the Dimensional Worlds Project out, why did you start writing other stories?”
TW:” That’s a complicated question with a complex answer. But I’m only going to give a simplistic answer here, due to time limits and your producer making a ‘cut’ or ‘stop’ gesture towards me. I heard someone use this example before, and I really liked it, so I’m going to use it here. (Shoutout to Jordan!)”

*The camera quickly pans to the crowd, hoping to find just anyone named Jordan. After failing to find anyone, they switch back to the stage*

TW:” I call this conceptual idea Beavers Build Dams.” HD:” Right, that was the focus of Section 1, Verse 4 in your poem The Quatrain Laws.” TW:” Exactly! You obviously read that poem.” HD:” Actually, I didn’t have time for that. It’s what’s written on my cue cards.”

*Slightly disappointed, The Writer continues with his answer*

TW:” So the general concept of Beavers Build Dams is that, if you were able to talk to a beaver and asked him why he built dams, he could probably come up with several rationalizations as to why. But modern psychology has shown that he more than likely came up with those rationalizations after the fact, after he made the decision to build a dam. If you took away all of those reasons, like, by answering all of them by giving alternatives that would solve or answer those rationalizations better, it wouldn’t change his actions. He would find other rationalizations to support his choice to build dams. You might be able to change how he goes about building dams, but in order to change the fact that he builds dams, well, it would require changing him into something that is no longer a beaver.”

HD:” So you’re saying that people can talk to beavers? You’re obviously crazy, because everyone knows that beavers are far too busy to spend any time talking to people. Everyone knows that.”

*The crowd nods in agreement. Everyone knows that beavers are far too busy to talk to anyone*

TW:” NO! Of course not. It was only a concept to try and illustrate a point. A point that you very obviously missed. Which is partially my fault, because this concept can be misinterpreted to mean several different things, all of which I don’t intend. Like that this justifies certain actions. That’s not what I was getting at. What I mean is-“

*He is interrupted by the host suddenly turning to look directly into the camera. The camera zooms in dramatically on Helen’s face*

HD:” What you mean is that beavers are equivalent to people, and by extension, deserves voting rights. And now, for a word from our sponsors.”

*The camera cuts to a commercial, paid for by the Cabal of Aquatic Engineers. The final frames of the commercial have a voiceover that says “Vote for Mr. Beaver in the upcoming election! You know dam well that he’s the best and most hardworking candidate, who will fight for your interests and rationalizations! Water will never flow where you don’t want it again! Vote for Mr. Beaver in the upcoming election!” Commercial finished, the camera returns to the center of the stage, displaying a confused writer.*

TW:” Can we move on to the next question?” HD:” Sure. Next question: What was your motivation for writing BLACKOUT?”
TW:” I wanted to work on something that wasn’t the Dimensional Worlds project. I was starting to get in a rut, and that leads to writer’s block. Not to mention I was starting to get bored of that, and I wanted to switch it up. So, enter BLACKOUT.”

HD:” Where did you find inspiration for writing BLACKOUT?”

TW:” From music; that’s where I find most of my inspiration. Specifically, there was a song that I was listening to on repeat for a couple months straight.”
HD:” On Repeat, is that a new streaming service?” TW:” No, its-” HD:” And now for another word from our sponsors.”

*The camera feed cuts to another commercial. The fast-paced voiceover says ” On Repeat! The brand-new music streaming service that’s the hottest thing on the market! Everyone can’t stop talking about it! On Repeat allows you to listen to the same song over and over and over, till it sounds different from the first time you heard it! Tired of hearing the same song over again? There’s an easy remedy to that! Switch to On Repeat, and you never have to listen to another song again! Subscriptions renew weekly! There is no option to cancel ever! Some terms and conditions apply.” Now, back to the show.*

TW:” As I was saying, this song intros with two people talking. The first person asks ‘So um is there anything else I did that I need to know about I want to be fully informed’ and the second person responds with ‘I told you everything’.
When I heard that, it seemed very obvious to me that the second person wasn’t being completely honest with the first. As I do, the world that these people (characters?) must live in started being created in my head. That happens to most songs I listen to, by the way. But this time the story I built was a little bit ‘full-er’, or more developed, for lack of a better phrase. I started to see how I could bring it into words. After mulling this idea around in my head for a few days, I figured that I could write a short story about this, and bring that world to life.
I wrote a couple thoughts down, and started to (slowly) build up my production synopsis.”

HD:” Where did the inspiration for the characters in the story come from?” TW:” The same place. I was intentional about building in a number of references to the song throughout the story. Off the top of my head, those include the title (Blackout), the second lead character (Darci), the Billionaire (Rance Riley), the lab student, (Lisa), and, of course, the opening and ending dialog. The name Anders is based off of a similar-sounding fellow Canadian artist named-“

*The entire crowd shouted at the top of their lungs “Anders!”*

TW:” You guessed it, he’s named Anders.”

HD:” So in the story, you sort of hint that the technology causing his blackouts was some sort of weird quantum mechanics sort of thing. Isn’t that a bit hack-ish to just throw in a couple lines of dialogue, call it quantum, and hope that covers up a lack of real technological detail and information? I was planning on building a machine myself.”

TW:” That question was unnecessarily aggressive, don’t you think? Well, in my defense it wasn’t just a couple lines of dialogue. It featured a little more prominently than that. However, in hindsight it was completely unnecessary to bring in quantum mechanics to explain it.
I could have said that it was some sort of synthetic vasopressin inhibitor.”
HD:” What’s that? That sounds even more vague science-y mumbo-jumbo. Did you just invent that?”

TW:” No, no. Vasopressin is an anti-diuretic, and has the side-effect of helping sort term memory immensely. Alcohol inhibits vasopressin, which then results in having to go to the bathroom all the time and blacking out. In other words, having the experience of time travel or in the science-y phrase I would have used in the story, modulating the experience of time.
So in BLACKOUT, that was more or less what RR, RAPTA and Darci were trying to create, just that they wanted an on-demand version that was far stronger and more effective.”

HD:” How do you know all of that?” TW:” What do you mean? I just know these sorts of things. It’s not like I’m a member of the-“

*The camera cuts to yet another unnecessarily-dramatic close-up of Helen Degenerates*

HD:” And now, for another word from our sponsors.”

*The camera cuts to a black screen, with a deep and distorted voice-over:
“Have you ever wanted to know stuff that would require you to kill someone if you told them? Then you’re in luck! Call 1-800-ILLUMINATI and apply for membership today!
Membership benefits include receiving a code-name, being able to make vague and veiled threats to people you don’t like, attending really cool late-night parties, and determining the course of history. Some unfortunate traits may result in disqualification, such as an overabundance of morals, or a lack of money. If your application is rejected, you might never be heard from again. Billionaires need not apply, as they are given automatic membership. Terms and conditions apply. And now, back to the show*

HD:” Are you working on anything at the moment?
TW:” Well, I’m always working on several projects at once. That’s why I don’t ever finish any of them!”

*The crowd bursts into laughter at his joke, with the exception of the people planted in the audience. The production crew made a note to hire different people next time*

TW:” That being said, the intention is that the next time I invite myself onto your fictional and slightly satirical show, I will have finished draft one of Dimensional Worlds, Book Three, and -“

*HD cuts him off, again*

HD:” What’s that story about?”
TW:” I’m sorry, I can’t answer that question till after I finish the story. What I can tell you is that the current title, and the one I expect to remain the title, is The Warrior. And I didn’t call it that because the protagonist is a florist who fights insects and customers.” HD:” That’s too bad. A violent florist sounds like an interesting story idea.”

TW:” Really? Well, I could always save that idea for another story.” HD:” Ok, I interrupted you. I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I’ve never done that before. You were saying that you wanted to finish draft one of The Warrior, then what?” TW:” After I finish draft one of Book Three, I want to pivot to my third standalone story. I want to release it in the fall, but I don’t expect to complete it until spring 2023.” HD:” Why not?”
TW:” I’ve got a clear idea of how I want to write Act 1 and Act 3, but I’m running into several problems in Act 2. I’ve been working on the production synopsis for several months at this point, and it’s slow going.”

HD:” Can you tell our readers anything about it yet?”

TW:” I can’t say much about it, but it’s going to absolutely nuts. Just crazy crazy stuff. There’s going to be a bunch of symbolical and allegorical aspects of the story, mixed with some just totally random and possibly meaningless stuff. It’s going to be wild. I’m really going to enjoy writing it. I also hope to introduce a strange character I’ve only hinted at so far throughout my other stories and poems.”
HD:” Who is it? Tell us who that is!!”

*The crowd shouts at The Writer, yelling “TELL US!!”. Even the production crew yells at him to tell everyone, just with distorted voices that have been toned down several octaves.*

TW:” Ok, ok. I’ll tell you. If everything goes well, in my upcoming story I’ll finally introduce The Chameleon, among others.”

HD:” Exciting and mysterious! Well, that concludes this interview for now. My guest’s latest story, The Masters of Bad Timing, is out now! Find it on this very website, and only there. Tune in next time to hear us discuss The Quatrain Laws in more detail, The Masters of Bad Timing, and possibly more. Thanks for joining us!” TW:” Yeah, thanks for having me. This fake scenario was a lot of fun to dream up. Having an overactive and weird imagination has some upsides alongside it’s downsides.”
HD:” Yes. Most things have upsides alongside their downsides and outsides and insides and undersides and sidesides. Goodnight everyone!”

*The camera slowly pans over the crowd, then the feed cuts to another advertisement with the slogan “Vote for Mr. Beaver!” printed overtop a photo contrasting a section of orderly, dammed water with a section of un-dammed, unruly, troublesome, and rioting water*

<The End of Interview One>