{"id":15524,"date":"2022-09-06T09:40:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T13:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=15524"},"modified":"2022-09-06T09:40:53","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T13:40:53","slug":"episode-503-jonathan-ames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-503-jonathan-ames","title":{"rendered":"Episode 503 – Jonathan Ames"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories Show 503:
\nJonathan Ames<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_503_-_Jonathan_Ames.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

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

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

“I would tell my writing students that it’s okay to be deeply influenced. I was struck when I was watching Ken Burns’ documentary on jazz; every great jazz musician would talk about their influences, like Miles Davis saying he heard Charlie Parker play and wanted to make a sound like that. I’d tell my students, even if you’re trying to make a sound like your favorite writer, it’s going to come out differently, like a player with their own embouchure.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Author & showrunner Jonathan Ames<\/a> returns to the show to celebrate his new novel, The Wheel Of Doll<\/a> (Mulholland Books)! We get into how Lee Child inadvertently led him into writing about a down-on-his-luck PI named Happy Doll, how this new book builds on 2021’s A Man Called Doll<\/a>, his love of crime\/mystery fiction and what he’s learned about the form from re-re-re-reading masters like Richard Stark\/Donald Westlake. We also talk about the Buddhist influences in The Wheel Of Doll<\/em> (& in Jonathan’s life), whether people can change, why he tweaked Happy’s LA setting to mess with reality a little, and what it means to set a character along a new path (if not the Eightfold Noble Path). Plus, we discuss his recent binge-watch of Vikings<\/a>, the principle of Engagementism, his writing advice (set reasonable goals), and plenty more! Give it a listen!<\/a> And go read The Wheel Of Doll<\/a>! (But first, check out A Man Called Doll<\/a>)<\/p>\n

(And go listen to our 2018 conversation<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

“It’s like sports; you keep evolving. In the first Doll book, I was learning to shoot free throws and layups; in the second book, I had that down and thought, ‘What else can this voice do?'”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n