Musings from a Mad Writer

“Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence.”

― Edgar Allan Poe 

Welcome to my first blog. I thought I'd introduce myself with the following interview.

An “Interview” with Douglas Wells, author of The Secrets of All Secrets.

Interviewer: How would you describe your work?

Wells: Demented, but in a good way.

Interviewer: Where did the idea of The Secrets of All Secrets come from?

Wells: Firstly, so that readers won’t think I’m an insufferable prig, I’m going to forgive your dangling preposition. Secondly, there’s this troll who lives under my bed. He found a USB drive under there, which gave me the idea.

Interviewer: A troll lives under your bed? What does he eat?

Wells: Your dreams if you give them to him, and he’s responsible for hiding my car keys and sunglasses just before I’m about to leave the house.

Interviewer: One of the themes in your novel is “what is the meaning of life.” Why is that important to you?

Wells: That’s an interesting question.

Interviewer: When someone responds to a question by saying, “That’s an interesting question,” it usually means he or she doesn’t have an answer.

Wells: Wait a cotton pickin’ minute there, Bub. I said it’s an interesting question because it implied that you aren’t concerned with the meaning of life. Is that true?

Interviewer: Uh, I’m the one asking the questions here.

Wells: You got me there.

Interviewer: So, why is knowing the meaning of life important to you?

Wells: Since you asked, I have to confess I put it in the book because, since time immemorial, to coin a phrase, humankind has obsessed over this question, but there’s no definitive answer to what is the meaning of life, which means if I don’t reveal what the meaning of life is, I’m off the hook. No one else knows, either.

Interviewer: That’s pretty profound.

Wells: It’s what I get paid for.

Interviewer: Do you think writers should embrace politics in their work?

Wells: I wouldn’t embrace politics or politicians anywhere, especially politicians. And don’t shake hands with one. You might not get that hand back.

Interviewer: Well, The Secrets of All Secrets seems to cast you as left-leaning.

Wells: If so, I didn’t intend it.