"ASK ME, UH-HO-HO, ASK ME"

Welcome! It's time for a new feature here on Bigmouth Indeed Strikes Again, and that feature is Guthmantics! So, welcome to the very first Guthmantics, where today, our guest is David Gianatasio, author of Swift Kicks, from none other than my beloved So New Publishing. Gianatasio has contributed to the print or online editions of Adweek, the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, Boston Magazine, McSweeney's, Mediaweek, Digital Review, eWeek, the Improper Bostonian, PC Week, Software Magazine, Pindeldyboz, Eyeshot and Tennis Magazine, among others.

His book, Swift Kicks, is a "story that seems like a straight suspenseful, X-Filesesque adventure" (made even better by a recent quote from Gaianatasio himself, "I vaguely resemble David Duchovny. Alas, the way he looks NOW, not in his prime-time heyday.") then becomes "something twisted and - ultimately - depraved and hilarious. Something itches into your brain and makes the crazy shared. David likes to take the common and mundane and warp it just a little, just a tweak to make you believe you know where he's headed. . . before yanking the tablecloth out altogether to watch the dishes go flying. Swift Kicks is full of the little punches that make life fun, the brushes with mania that shove us through our office mazes and coffee-soaked days. This is the kind of book you want to leave in the company breakroom once you're done with it, because crazy this good deserves to be shared, whether they know it or not."

Guth: Tell us what you write, what you have written and how you do it?

Gianatasio: I'm ALWAYS writing. Walking down the street, waking from a dream. Images, characters, dialog and plots form ... grow ... multiply. It never stops. I couldn't turn it off if I tried. I dream in narratives that are WAY more intense & intricate than the stuff I've published. That's a sadness ... but also gives me hope that one day I'll get that stuff onto paper (or virtual paper) and really do some great work. Writing journalistically (and I include my daily business blogging in this) keeps me sharp. That cliche about writing every day and finishing what you write is so true. Writing is about 10% talent and 90% crafting and re-working/revising/screaming/kicking the wall/revising.

Kurt Vonnegut was the prototypical Web-age writer. His tricks with time (Slaughterhouse 5) and amazing subversion of narrative (Breakfast of Champions) foreshadowed stream-of-consciousness blogs and even some aspects of IM communications. I'm proud that I was in a position to publish something professionally as a remembrance. That meant a great deal to me, to have come at least that far in my own writing career.

What grand things are next for you? What would you, we're talking dream gigs and adventures here, love to be next for you?

I've co-written 3 mystery novels that haven't found publishers. So New Media Publishing (also Amy's publisher) is kindly bringing out an expanded version of my story/humor collection Swift Kicks. Look for it on the Web and in bookstores soon!

Ok, I think I've figured out what's wrong with my mysteries. Each one needs a different killer! (I think Agatha Christie had some success working that way.)

What Smiths or Morrissey song or lyric sums it up for you right now?

"Ask me, ask me, ask me"

Thanks for coming by, David. Stop back anytime! As for the rest of you, you know what to do. Scroll up, click the link and buy that book. I'm partial to the line about the Moabites, and, oh man oh man, the very first couple of paragraphs are painfully and gorgeously weird. Go forth! Then, you know the drill by now, right? After you've read it, add it to your LibraryThing and Shelfari collections. Go on, go on.

Want to be a featured author/writer type for Guthmantics? Well, just send an email to me at amy@guthagogo.com and I'll tell you everything you need to know.