DARRIN DOYLE teaches at Central Michigan University, and is the author of The Big Baby Crime Spree and Other Delusions, his fifth book of fiction, as well as the story collections Scoundrels Among Us and The Dark Will End the Dark (Tortoise Books) and the novels The Girl Who Ate Kalamazoo (St. Martin’s Press) and Revenge of the Teacher’s Pet: A Love Story (LSU Press). He lives in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, with three other humans and a cat.

My current favorite author is: Bernard Malamud. Everything he wrote is engaging, stylistically interesting, approachable, funny… I’ve read five of his novels and can’t wait to read the rest of his work.

My current favorite film is: Relic (eerie and sad). 

My current favorite film director is: David Cronenberg. 

My current favorite actor is: Klaus Kinski (intensely unhinged).

My current favorite television show is: Ash vs. Evil Dead. The Sam Raimi movies have been part of my life since I was twelve and snuck into The Evil Dead. It scared the crap out of me. Five years later I saw Evil Dead II in the theater and laughed my ass off. And of course Army of Darkness was a major viewing event when it came out. I resisted watching the series because I hate nostalgia-bait stuff, but it’s not that at all. It’s got amazing practical gore effects and the same bonkers comedy spirit as Evil Dead II.

My current favorite musician is:  Harry Nilsson. A true artist. He never performed a live concert. His voice can sound smooth, jaunty, raw, pissed-off, haunted. After winning a Grammy for Nilsson Schmilsson, he could have followed up with an obvious commercial record, but Son of Schmilsson features “You’re Breakin’ My Heart”—the first two lines of which are: “You’re breakin’ my heart, you’re tearing it apart, so fuck you!” Not very radio friendly. Look up the “Without You” demo on YouTube where the chorus shreds his voice and the piano is gorgeous and dissonant.

My current state of mind is: fortunate to have a job, fortunate to have family and friends, fortunate for my recent publishing success. Feeling stressed and weary of this pandemic, but hopeful that we’re turning a corner.

My current chemical romance involves: the “current regrettable situation” below.

My current favorite quote is: “Sacred cows make the best hamburger.” Attributed to Mark Twain. 

My current favorite word is: “buttmunch.”

My current mode of transportation is: helicopter. Big-ass helicopter.

My current favorite fast food item is: Skyline Chili dogs.

My current workout routine consists of: walking the streets of Mount Pleasant for 2-3 miles every day. Shocking but true!

My current regrettable decision involves: a bottle of Old Overholt rye whiskey and too many episodes of Below Deck Mediterranean.

My current hopes and dreams are: to sing like Harry Nilsson, glower like Klaus Kinski, write like Bernard Malamud and fly in a helicopter while chowing Skyline Chili dogs.

My current projects involve: being in the rare and enviable position of having not one but two books coming out in 2021, so I’ve been busy with editing, publicity, and all that good stuff. My story collection, The Big Baby Crime Spree and Other Delusions, drops in March, and my comedy-horror werewolf novel, The Beast in Aisle 34, drops in October.

Darrin Doyle is online at darrindoyle.com.

Brian Alan Ellis runs House of Vlad Press, and is the author of several books, including Sad Laughter (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2018). His writing has appeared at Juked, Hobart, Fanzine, Monkeybicycle, Electric Literature, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Funhouse, Heavy Feather Review, and Yes Poetry, among other places. He lives in Florida.

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