Blast from the Past: Loaded Questions with Christopher Moore, author of "You Suck: A Love Story"

I love Christopher Moore. The moment I picked up his novel Lamb, a novel that follows around Biff, the thirteenth apostle and Jesus' favorite childhood pal. I routinely recommend it as one of the funniest books that I have ever read. I have an admittedly embarrassing confession that I couldn't bear to tell Christopher that last time I interviewed him. Four years ago while shopping at a bookstore I lucked upon Christopher Moore, he was doing an event later at
another bookstore but had stopped by the store I was at, as is customary, to sign all of the copies that were on hand. Not only did I purchase everyone of his books (signed, they were signed to me!) I also told him this funny scene I had imagined would have fit very well in the plot of Lamb. Now, I have seen a good many perfectly capable, eloquent and wise individuals meet their idols (movie stars, musicians and authors) and immediately turn into a blathering ninny. Blindsided by the sheer luck of arriving at an unpublicized appearance by one of my favorite authors and convinced I could make him laugh, I attempted to tell my story. The words ... well, the words got out of my mouth but once I had finished Christopher was simply starring at me in a kind yet bewildered (maybe not bewildered, maybe just puzzled ...) way that implied that I had most certainly not been funny.

Flash forward two years to 2006 and the interview below in which I got a chance, more composed, to talk with Christopher Moore again. I tried to keep my gushing to a minimum but I am not sure that I succeeded. After we had emailed several times back and forth and were done with the email I thought about telling him about our brief and strange encounter - sure that he would not remember because it hadn't been *that* terrible. I envisioned the bewildered -- er, puzzled look on his face, however, and pledged not to risk doing it again.

I just read some news of the next book by Christopher Moore, titled Fool: A Novel which is set to be released in February of 2009.

Below is my 2006 interview with Christopher Moore. Do enjoy.


K Hewitt: Your newest book A Dirty Job has been nominated for the Quill Awards (the nomination came in 2006, which it won for best General Fiction!) . Ive already voted for you and promise to use what little sway I have with friends and family to get them to vote as well. What I want to know is whether or not you have an acceptance speech ready.

Christopher Moore: No, actually I won a Quill award last year (for The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror in the Sci-fi/Fantasy/Horror category) and my publisher, Lisa Gallagher accepted the award. If I win this year, I'm sure she'll accept it again. I'll be in England researching a new book.

Kelly: Maya Angelou is also nominated for a Quill this year for her newest book of poetry. One of your books Fluke: Or I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings is kind of a play on her well known I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Are you nervous about seeing her at the Quill Awards ceremony? Is there a Quill Awards ceremony?

Christopher: Maya is the shit. We would so hit it off. Like I said, I'll be in England, but I'd love to meet Maya.

Kelly: If the two of you hug and make up do you promise to send a copy of the photo to Loaded Questions so that we can run an exclusive story?

Christopher: You betcha.

Kelly: According to our friends over at Wikipedia, your books are considered "absurdist fiction" how do you feel about that?

Christopher: I feel that Wikipedia is considered almost a legitimate reference source. No, actually, that's as good a description of what I do as anything.

Kelly: Plug time. Would you like to share a few words with Loaded Questions readers about your next book?

Christopher: My next book, YOU SUCK: A Love Story, is a tender love story that illustrates the difficulties a young, urban couple encounters while trying to deal with the complications of being vampires, and how they are able to avoid the forces of the law, the light, a bunch of frozen turkey bowlers. It's like Romeo and Julliet, except there's less sword fighting and more people doing the nasty.

Kelly: Okay, how about a hypothetical? Your agent has booked you for a literary festival. Upon your arrival you learn that you're entered in a three-legged author race. You have two options for a parnter: Gore Vidal or Norman Mailer. Who do you choose? (In my defense and Christopher's Norman Mailer was alive and well, walking with two canes in 2006. He has since passed away, making the question a bit easier.)

Christopher: Oh come on, can I get someone that isn't 90 years old!!!? That's all I need is to be tied to someone who probably won't survive the first fifty yards.

KH: What are some of the books, music and movies that load down the shelves of Christopher Moore?

CM: I've got a new book by Nicole Galland, who writes cool historical novels. I have a new book by Matt Ruff, that won't come out to the public for a while. I have a bunch of my own books in British edtions, which they just sent me, and I have a buttload of books on Medieval history, because my next book is going to be set in that period. I've just moved into an apartment from a big house, so my bookshelf space has been cut back quite a bit. If I'm not going to be reading it in the next month or so, it goes in storage.

Practical Demonkeeping (1992)
Coyote Blue (1994)
Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story (1995)
Island of the Sequined Love Nun (1997)
The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove (1999)
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal (2002)
Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings (2003)
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror (2004)
A Dirty Job (2006)
You Suck: A Love Story (2007)

And the forthcoming Fool: A Novel (20