AND: It receives no money from sponsors or advertisements, it is entirely listener supported. Does this podcast offer you inspiration? If so, do support the show on patreon. Give a one-time annual or monthly pledge to Patreon.com/connerhabib to connect to and give economic life to something you find value in. Thank you. Also, please do subscribe to the show, give it a 5 star rating and warm review on Apple Podcasts + buy my novel Hawk Mountain and give it 5 star rating and a positive review on Goodreads!
Friends, I love reading and I love buying books. I’ve come to learn that those are two separate pursuits, but both are highly mediated by forces that are unseen to most of us, even if we’re writers or avid readers.
How was the literary landscape in America formed?
Why are there so few big publishers not owned by multinational corporations?
How do those merges affect what we read and how genres are created?
Why do so many prize-winning novels suck?
I wanted to get a handle on all of this, so I invited Professor of English and scholar of books and publishing,DAN SINYKINonto the show!
Dan is the author of the excellent bookBig Fiction: How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature.You might think this bookis just a niche concern, but it’s a page-turner, filled not just with theories, but name-dropping, gossip, surprising turns of history, and determined individuals. It also an important book for writers to read.
I hope this episode gives you a better view of the infernal… or, okay, at least crazy Rube Golberg-esque inner workings of a favorite activity.
MORE ON DAN
Dan’s website is here. Dan is aso the author of American Literature and the Long Downturn: Neoliberal Apocalypse and many scholarly articles, including his essay on Danielle Steele (who features in Big Fiction in a big way). He’s also hard at work on a new book about close reading, which I am very excited for.
AND: It receives no money from sponsors or advertisements, it is entirely listener supported. Does this podcast offer you inspiration? If so, do support the show on patreon. Give a one-time annual or monthly pledge to Patreon.com/connerhabib to connect to and give economic life to something you find value in. Thank you. Also, please do subscribe to the show, give it a 5 star rating and warm review on Apple Podcasts + buy my novel Hawk Mountain and give it 5 star rating and a positive review on Goodreads!
Friends, Continuing on with my series about work, I wanted to consider not just writing but being a writer. In other words, what it takes and take from you to write; the work of being a writer. I wanted to do it with another working writer who writes in genre-defying and genre-defining modes, so I asked SARAH MARIA GRIFFINback onto the show. Sarah – who was last on the show back on AEWCH 93 – is the author of poetry, zines, memoir, and dark fantasy, including her masterful weird novel, Other Words for Smoke. She’s also a teacher and tarot reader. Now she had two upcoming horror novels (keep an eye out!) and understands the life of not just writing but being a writer and all that that requires: the mediating of forces dark and difficult, the frightening endurance, the tedious quotidian tasks, the managing of the expectations of readers. It’s not easy work, but it’s also the work that she – and I – love most. Why? Why do we want more of life in isolation on the ecotone of symbol and reality? This is a personal and weird episode, and I hope you love it. CH
Advertisements from sponsors don’t fit with the mission of this podcast. So I ask listeners if they’d like to support the show by sharing what they can via patreon. The best way to support this show, my writing, my events & courses, is to give an annual or monthly pledge to Patreon.com/connerhabib. You can also subscribe to the show and give it a 5-Star writing on Apple Podcasts, as well as buy my novel Hawk Mountain.
When you use patreon, you’re not only supporting me, but accessing an economic model that isn’t about paying people for their labor, and instead showing care and appreciation of who they are.
Friends, Celebrating the release of my novel Hawk Mountain in paperback, I’ve been talking with creators of my favorite genre, HORROR. Now to conclude the series, I’ve reposted my episode from October of 2022 on the spiritual life of horror. It’s a fitting conclusion to the series, summarizing my contemplation on the genre and what it offers from my spiritual perspective. And it has lots of recommendations for books and films you might not know.
Previous episodes in the series were: AEWCH 235 with C.J. Leede and Paul Tremblay, AEWCH 234 with John Langan and Sophie White, AEWCH 233 featured writers Nathan Ballingrud and Sara Gran, and the first was AEWCH 232, with cosmic horror writer and scholar Matt Cardin.
This series of episodes was such an enriching journey through horror and its offerings, thank you for joining me on it.
Advertisementsfromsponsorsdon‘tfitwiththemissionofthispodcast.SoIasklistenersifthey‘dliketosupporttheshowbysharingwhattheycanviapatreon.Thebestwaytosupportthisshow,my writing, my events & courses, is to give an annual or monthly pledge to Patreon.com/connerhabib.You can also subscribe to the show and give it a 5-Star writing on Apple Podcasts, as well as buymynovelHawkMountain.
When you use patreon, you’re not only supporting me, but accessing an economic model that isn’t about paying people for their labor, and instead showing care and appreciation of who they are.
Friends, Celebrating the release of my novel Hawk Mountain in paperback, I’ll be talking with creators of my favorite genre, HORROR. There are few genres that have inspired such a furor of regulation, stigma, and anger. Horror is regulated by governments, has been the topic of countless moralistic exams rations and moral panics, has been blamed for disintegrating societies, and more. Horror itself horrifies. And when horror does become accepted, at best it is said by critics to “transcend the genre.” Which means it’s really just transcending the stigma the critics have by re-asserting it. But who am I to talk about beleaguered horror? The fact is, it is also wildly popular. Even a terrible horror movie can be quite popular, and the most consistently bestselling author of all time is a horror writer. What does that mean? Across these episodes, I’ll be talking about horror in its many forms: cosmic horror, body horror, suburban horror, monster horror, possession horror, and more. The first episode in the series was AEWCH 232, with cosmic horror writer and scholar Matt Cardin.
Youdon‘thavetoknowmuchhorrororevenlikehorrortofollowalongwiththeseepisodes; each one will reveal a horror of life, of being human.
As a writer of the horrific myself, I wanted to talk with other writers about the inner navigation of wanting to explore and depict and share cruelty, fear, fantastic and upsetting violence. It’s not just that I wanted to talk about the moral navigation of these images – after all, those sorts of images and themes exist in the sacred scriptures that form much of our ideas of morality. I wanted to also talk about the impulse to move into those images, and the differing ways in which authors walk through that inner landscape and figure out what to share and what to leave behind.
Furthermore, how much of what we are depicting isreflective of reality – not just the darkly imagined versions of real-world violence and tragedy, but of the supernatural and the strange?
To talk about this, I asked two masters of the weird and of horror onto the show.
Nathan Ballingrud is the author of one of the greatest collections of short horror fiction ever, North American Lake Monsters. His most recent book is The Strange, an adventure on Mars that does the remarkable work of balancing science fiction, mystery, Western, and horror.
Both Sara and Nathan write across genres and for multiple mediums – film, TV, audible stories, and of course novels and stories.
We talk about the pleasure of creating horror and of reading it. We also talk about the fact that horror fiction rarely actually scaresus, as opposed to horror films – instead it upsets or disturbs us.But when it does frighten us, how does it work?
We talk about the dream logic of the supernatural, and how much of what we depict isreflective of reality – not just the darkly imagined versions of real-world violence and tragedy, but of the supernatural and the strange?
This is a deep and dark episode. I’m so excited to share it with you.
SHOW NOTES
WHAT OTHER EPISODE SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO? In some ways the first episode in this series is reallyAEWCH 201, on the Spiritual Life of Horror. Horror offers spiritual insight and can be a doorway to spiritual growth. I hope you’ll listen to and find some meaning there.
WHAT BOOK SHOULD YOU READ? For an unrelenting horror novel that is not thought of, generally, as a horror novel, I suggest James Purdy’s masterpiece, Narrow Rooms. I read it in one sitting and cast it across the room when I finished, repulsed and so, so thrilled to have found it.
MORE ON NATHAN Many of the stories in North American Lake Monsters were adapted for the Hulu series, Monsterland. He’s also the author of Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hellwhich contains the story “The Visible Filth” that inspired the film, Wounds, starring Armie Hammer and Dakota Johnson. Here’s Nathan’s website, which is a little out of date as of this post, but still has a lot of great stuff.
MORE ON SARA Sara is a frequent guest on the show, and her most recent appearance was on AEWCH 200m part in conversation with myself and Una Mullally. You can now preorder a new (beautiful + scary cover!) edition of Come Closer. She has her own publishing company, Dreamland Books. And she is the write of the audio ghost story, Marigold: An Investigation of an American Haunting, read by Zoe Kazan. And she is perhaps best known for her weird detective series featuring the psychoanalytic-meets-magick investigator, Claire Dewitt.
Hey there friends, Just a heads up that my story, “Tell Someone”, is in the latest issue of the Stinging Fly, which you can order here.
“Tell Someone” is the story of two brothers – Luke and Adam – and a terrible family secret which haunts every corner of their lives. It’s a very very dark story. Darker than Hawk Mountain, even. If that’s possible.
Speaking of Hawk Mountain, the audio book was just named one of Audible’s Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2022! If you haven’t yet read it or listened to it, you can buy it here (and if you sign up for Audible, you get a free download). I narrate it, so you can enjoy my sweet soothing voice in your ears, telling you a story that massively messes up your mind. Enjoy! X C
Friends, This is the last fiction writing episode for a bit, so I needed someone to talk with me about mediating the creation of dark art. So I asked another writer who’s been there to talk about violence, murder, and forgiveness in fiction: My Sister the Serial Killerauthor, Oyinkan Braithwaite!
SHOW NOTES
WHAT BOOK YOU SHOULD READ? One of my very favorite novels is also a sort-of-sort-of-not crime novel: Narrow Rooms by James Purdy. It’s absolutely ruthless, and bizarre. Imagine if John Waters wrote a serious novel. This would be it. It’s a nice blend of the tonally challenging aspects of both my and Oyinkan’s novels.
WHAT OTHER AEWCH EPISODE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO? I talked about crime fiction in depth with another writer – and a master of the genre – Liz Nugent, back on AEWCH 104. Bonus: It was recorded just before the pandemic, and we talk about it with hope and trepidation.
MORE ON OYINKAN There’s plenty to explore, including illustrations and short works, on Oyinkan’s website. My favorite story there is “One Choice“, which has illustrations including the one below, made out of the words of the text.
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Friends, So happy to share an extended contemplation about fiction and this podcast, and then one of my very favorite book tour events with you: a live conversation about horror, transhumanism, and Hawk Mountain in Dublin with your fav death expert Caitlin Doughty and nonfiction writer/cultural critic Mark O’Connell.
It was a sold out event and one of my favorite on the tour, which will continue in the UK in September. (I’ll also post one of the other tour dates as exclusive content for patreon patrons only.)
SHOW NOTES
WHAT BOOK YOU SHOULD READ? One of the greatest horror novels – which, like Hawk Mountain is also not really a horror novel – is Disgrace by JM Coetzee. Don’t read anything about it, just get it and read it. It’s incredible.4
WHAT OTHER AEWCH EPISODE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO? I talked about the horrors of technologies – as well as its occult promise and beauty – with anthroposophist writer Andrew Linnell on AEWCH 183.
MORE ON CAITLIN AND MARK If you follow the links to their respective AEWCH episodes you’ll find lots there -here’s Caitlin Doughty on AEWCH 174 and Mark O’Connell on AEWCH 105.
Against Everyone With Conner Habib is funded exclusively by listeners like you. Do you find value in this show? If so, support the podcast. SUPPORT THIS PODCAST viaPatreon
Friends,
As I get ready for the release of Hawk Mountain, I find myself wanting to talk to writers more and more. For advice, for good company, and honestly just because I’m so excited.
So for this episode, I talk to the much-celebrated author of the novel Memorialand story collection Lot, Bryan Washington! Memorial is a sort of negative universe version of Hawk Mountain – it uses time in a similar way (but different!) and examines the unsaid in a similar way (but different!) and the outcomes for the characters are very, very different (but similar!). After reading it, I felt enlivened and heartbroken at once. So then I read his story collection, Lot. Then, right away, I invited him onto the show.
Bryan and I talk about desire, identity in fiction, the way writers are asked about process all the time, the productiveness of marginalization, movies, and more. This is one of my very favorite episodes.
What a great conversation.
SHOW NOTES
WHAT BOOK YOU SHOULD READ? Bryan and I are both deeply influenced by film. One filmmaker I bring up on the show is Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the notorious and deeply driven melodramatic auteur. I love his work, and I love this book of interviews with him, TheAnarchy of the Imagination.
WHAT OTHER AEWCH EPISODE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO? There are some deep parallels on this episode with themes touched on on AEWCH 149 featuring Carmen Maria Machado, although Carmen and I go at it in an entirely different way!
WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK INTO FURTHER? I talked with Samuel Delaney about fiction, sexual identity, and philosophy years ago, before I had a podcast. Here’s the whole conversation!
Friends, my debut novel of murder, desire, and high tension, Hawk Mountain, is out from W.W. Norton in the US and Penguin/Doubleday in Ireland and the UK next July, but if you pre-order it now, you get it delivered straight to your door the day it comes out (or maybe even earlier, since Amazon sometimes surprises you with early delivery!). I can’t wait to share this novel with the world. I’ll be posting some videos, podcasts, and interviews about the book and writing it in the days to come. But be one of the first people to read the book by clicking one of the following links and ordering it!
An English teacher is gaslit by his charismatic high school bully in this tense story of deception, manipulation, and murder.
Single father Todd is relaxing at the beach with his son, Anthony, when he catches sight of a man approaching from the water’s edge. As the man draws closer, Todd recognizes him as Jack, who bullied Todd relentlessly in their teenage years, but now seems overjoyed to have “run into” his old friend. Jack suggests a meal to catch up. And can he spend the night?
What follows is a fast-paced story of obsession and cunning. As Jack invades Todd’s life, pain and intimidation from the past unearth knife-edge suspense in the present. Set in a small town on the New England coast, Conner Habib’s debut introduces characters trapped in isolation by the expansive woods and the encroaching ocean, their violence an expression of repressed desire and the damage it can inflict. Both gruesome and tender, Hawk Mountain offers a compelling look at how love and hate are indissoluble, intertwined until the last breath.
FRIENDS:Do you find this podcast meaningful? Support it! This podcast is only possible because listeners like you support it. Do contribute to my mission by supporting Against Everyone With Conner Habib on Patreon! Thank you so, so much.
Buy Ramsey’s books and all the books mentioned on/related to this episode via my booklist for AEWCH 168 on bookshop.org! The site sources from independent bookstores in the US, not a big corporate shipping warehouse where the workers are treated like machines. Plus when you click through here to order, the show gets a small affiliate kickback!
Friends,
Happy Halloween. I don’t really need to introduce legendary horror author Ramsey Campbell, but I will just say it was an honor to have him on the show. Very few people have done as much as Ramsey to deepen horror narratives, and very few have shown – with dozens of books penned – such a commitment to the genre.
• The calm moments in David Lynch films are the half smile on the government agent’s face thing I mention brought to you by Jon Ronson, who I spoke with on AEWCH 163.
Conner Habib 