{"id":12480,"date":"2019-09-16T22:00:19","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T02:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=12480"},"modified":"2019-09-18T13:51:18","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T17:51:18","slug":"episode-337-amor-towles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-337-amor-towles","title":{"rendered":"Episode 337 – Amor Towles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories Show 337:
\nAmor Towles<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Episode_337_-_Amor_Towles.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“In the back of my mind I knew that if I didn’t write a book that I felt proud of by the time I was 50, I’d probably end up bitter in my old age.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>After a 20-year sojourn in the investment world, Amor Towles<\/a> returned to his first love by writing the bestselling novels Rules of Civility<\/a> and A Gentleman In Moscow<\/a>. We get into how he managed that jump, the lessons he learned from his first failed novel, and the advantages of making a later start in publishing (and whether he could’ve written either of his books when he was young). We talk about his intense outlining and planning process for novels and how it allows for more creativity within the writing itself, his relief at showing his writing teacher (Peter Matthiessen<\/a>) his books before it was too late, the symphonic model he applies to novels, his best practices for book tours (writing short stories and getting out and seeing the cities he was visiting), the perpetual nostalgia that is New York, his use of recurring characters in his fiction and whether it means he’s creating a Towlesiverse, and more! Give it a listen<\/a>\u00a0(conversation begins at 8:05)! And go buy A Gentleman In Moscow<\/a> and Rules of Civility<\/a>!<\/p>\n

“For a young artist, you don’t need a chorus of support; you need one person.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n