I recently had a nice chat with Lou Berney, the Pushcart Prize-winning author of The Road to Bobby Joe and Other Stories as well as the novels Gutshot Straight and its just-released sequel Whiplash River, which I reviewed yesterday. For your convenience and listening pleasure, I’ve broken the interview up according to some of the topics we discussed.
Lou on setting and how it informs a story
Lou’s first novel, Gutshot Straight, started out in Las Vegas, moved to LA, and then took a sharp left, ending up in Panama City. Whiplash River starts out in Belize, doglegs into Mexico, takes a hiatus in San Francisco, and then jumps the pond to Cairo. Lou explains how settings help shape his stories – and his taxes. Berney Setting
Characters and how you can’t start a story without them
Lou talks about Quinn, my favorite character from Whiplash River, and how he was really the beginning of the story. Lou on character
The Chuck Wendig memorial outlining question
If you’re a faithful reader, then you know I’ve been over the outline dilemma before, but it’s always interesting to get another writer’s take. Here’s Lou’s. Lou on outlining
What’s next for Lou, and a little love for genre fiction
Lou talks about where his characters might go from here, and weighs in on the lack of respect paid to genre fiction. Hey, the dude has won a Pushcart, people. He’s been in the freakin’ New Yorker. He knows from whence he speaks. (I used whence especially for Lou, in deference to his delicate literary sensibilities.) Lou’s future plans, and some love for genre fiction
