Go Forth

When the Believer asked me what could be some good ideas for their Tumblr, I thought, Well, why not ask everyone else for their ideas? Over however long we keep doing this, we will hear from writers, editors, publishers, agents, interns, and PR people, in long and short interviews, usually two at a time. These are all gifted, hard-working folks, and I am happy to ask them for information that you might find useful, helpful, and possibly pleasant. I hope this will provide an interesting resource for writers, though I would be remiss if I did not also direct you to Duotrope, New Pages, Poets and Writers, PEN, and HTMLGiant as sites to check out. Think of this as a kind of conversational space—a safe space, really. It is my honor and you’re welcome.

Love, Nicolle Elizabeth

First up we have friend of the Believer, James Greer. Don’t forget to check out his tour diary, coming in September. You guys know James from Guided By Voices and his new project, Détective, and he is also the retired Senior Editor of Spin magazine and a fiction and screenplay writer (of screenplays such as movies Catherine Zeta Jones stars in). Also, we’re from the same hometown. So I thought: Well, start here.

Nicolle Elizabeth: Hi James, thanks for talking with us. How are you?

James Greer: I’m trying to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and no ice cream and no wine and while I miss ice cream and wine I feel pretty good.

NE: You are a writer as well as a musician and retired editor. Which came first and which one led to which and which and which and which?

JG: I’ve always been a writer. I guess I’ve always been a musician, too, though technically I didn’t start learning music until I was ten or eleven. I learned saxophone first. My dad had a tenor sax from when he was in a Dixieland band in college. I still have it. It was made in 1919 in Elkhart, Indiana. I started editing because Bob Guccione, Jr. hired me to edit Spin magazine after I met him at a party and told him I could edit things. I guess I can be pretty persuasive when I’m drunk since he hired me in the absence of any evidence that I could actually edit anything.

NE: Would you ever go back to editing?

JG: I’m a terrible editor. I end up just rewriting everything because it’s easier, which is just an awful thing to do to another writer. But sure, if I needed the...