Sam Richard is the kind of guy who should probably be given superpowers. Maybe he already has superpowers but if not, I think we ought to sort the guy out. He’s kind and sweet and weird and although I haven’t known him for long, I can tell you that he is one of the greatest people on the planet. He’s cute as a button, too.
I, for one, look forward to seeing him flying through the air, naked, using his special laser-breath powers to fight crime.
So here… an interview before he joins the Avengers or the Justice League or whatever…
WHO – Sam Richard
WHAT – Widower. Owner of Weirdpunk Books. Spooky, crying monster. Writer. Editor. Sentient skeleton inside a suit of meat. Musician.
WHERE – Minneapolis, MN
NOTABLE WORK – To Wallow in Ash & Other Sorrows (short story collection, out October 11th through NihilismRevised). The New Flesh: A Literary Tribute to David Cronenberg (as co-editor and publisher, out November). Zombie Punks Fuck Off (as editor and co-publisher with CLASH Books). LAZERMALL (short anthology, currently in pre-order, Filthy Loot). “We Have Always Lived in the Jiffy-Lube” (short story, Breaking Bizarro anthology, Death’s Head Press). Ash Eater (guitar, crusty blackened sludge weirdness).
WHAT DO YOU WRITE WITH – Typically, my laptop and google docs. Occasionally, my phone and google docs. Even less occasionally, a pen and paper.
ONE WORD THAT BEST DESCRIBES YOUR MIND – Broken.
CAN WE SEE A PICTURE OF WHERE YOU WRITE –
WHAT WAS YOUR INTRODUCTION TO BIZARRO – I remember stumbling upon Carlton Mellick III on the internet in like 2003. It wasn’t until about a decade later when I became friends with Emma Johnson and she showed me the world of bizarro that I started reading it. Though, I had already read a ton of the ‘proto-bizarro’ like Lautremont, Burroughs, Dunn, Delany, Ballard. Early books from that period include Person by Sam Pink, Apeshit by Carlton Mellick III, and Extinction Journals by Jeremy Robert Johnson.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BIZARRO-ADJACENT MOVIE OR BOOK – El Topo? Fuck, that’s too hard. Ghoulies? This is grueling. The Brood? I give up.
HOW DO YOU RECHARGE – I love to watch trash-ass movies on my incredibly comfortable couch. I am also obsessed with my bed and try to spend as much time in it as possible because sleep is man’s greatest invention. My dog, Nero, and I hang out a lot, too.
WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS – Emma Alice Johnson, Brendan Vidito, Katy Michelle Quinn, Nicholas Day, Charles Austin Muir, our dark lord Satan, Austin James, Andy Wayne Adams.
See what I mean!
I’ll prep the radioactive beagle and will start whispering in its ear to go and bite Sam on the tuckus.
Sam… I hope you’re ready… superpowers incoming…
Before Sam dons a mask and becomes Beagle-Man, you should follow Sam on Twitter, check out his blog, and buy his books!
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How I Weird is a series of mini-interviews conducted by Luke Kondor, looking to celebrate the bizarro genre and the people who work in it. If you would like to be featured, then drop him (me) a line on Twitter at @Lukeofkondor.
Check out more of his nonsense at www.lukekondor.com.
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