Lit Hub Asks: 5 Authors, 7 Questions
The Lit Hub Author Questionnaire is a monthly interview featuring seven questions for five authors with new books. This month we talk to: Grace Krilanovich (Acid Green Velvet) Emily Ogden (Darkness Becomes Bright: On the Brief Life and Immortal Art.
The article presents a monthly interview format from Lit Hub, a literary website, where five authors with new books answer seven open-ended questions. This edition, published on September 15, 2026, features Grace Krilanovich, Emily Ogden, Paisley Rekdal, Jim Shepard, and Ankur Thakkar. The questionnaire avoids summaries or explanations of the authors' works, instead prompting them to describe their books in their own terms. The questions cover themes such as influences, personal contexts during writing, reader critiques, alternative career choices, writing strengths and weaknesses, and the challenge of writing with an audience in mind. The format emphasizes creative freedom and avoids constraints like word limits or rigid structures.
The article introduces five authors and their newly released books. Grace Krilanovich’s Acid Green Velvet explores themes like freedom, artistic identity, and the denigration of femininity. Emily Ogden’s Darkness Becomes Bright: On the Brief Life and Immortal Art of Edgar Allan Poe examines guilt, mortality, and the role of literature in coping with these themes. Paisley Rekdal’s Heritance focuses on four interconnected themes: death, fathers, questionable decisions, and the illusions provided by art. Jim Shepard’s The Queen of Bad Influences delves into human passivity, complicity, privilege, injustice, and the natural world’s indifference. Ankur Thakkar’s Blow Yourself Up addresses first loves, diaspora, time’s fluidity, musical influences, and second chances.
The authors discuss the varied influences behind their books without naming specific titles or authors. Emily Ogden cites dreams, group biographies, French decadence, magical realism, and nineteenth-century sensational fiction. Paisley Rekdal mentions photographer Dorothea Lange, artist George Stubbs, her drawing practice, historian Thucydides, and archives from the American West Center, which she directs. Jim Shepard references films, natural science books, Peanuts, Catholicism, monster lore, and obscure archival details. Ankur Thakkar lists abstract concepts like upward-falling snow, self-alter egos, cinematic techniques, and musical pauses. Grace Krilanovich draws from counterculture movements, landscapes like San Benito County, excessive art styles, and case studies from Lou Reed’s The Blue Mask.
The authors describe their lives while writing their books, often in fragmented or poetic terms. Paisley Rekdal notes experiencing chaos on multiple levels. Jim Shepard highlights retirement, the loss of two dogs, rescuing two others, travel, private teaching, and increased reading time. Ankur Thakkar mentions reading widely, facing rejections, moving cities, fitness routines, and adopting a performative social persona. Grace Krilanovich provides a detailed timeline, starting in 2007 and including solo living, nocturnal habits, ocean swimming, estate sales, childcare, Zoom school, and finishing the book in June 2023. Emily Ogden humorously mentions raccoon attacks as part of her writing period.
The authors share words they dislike being used to describe their writing. Jim Shepard expresses discomfort with vague praise. Ankur Thakkar recalls a dismissive comment about cultural stereotypes. Grace Krilanovich rejects terms like surreal, stream of consciousness, automatic writing, and vomiting on the page, which she associates with lack of care or effort. Emily Ogden declines to critique descriptors, emphasizing the difficulty of describing a book. Paisley Rekdal mentions being labeled too pretty, intense, or long, though she embraces the intensity in her poetry. The authors’ responses reflect their sensitivity to reductive or inaccurate labels applied to their work.
The authors imagine careers outside of writing, regardless of feasibility. Ankur Thakkar chooses being a chef, valuing the patience and trust required in cooking. Grace Krilanovich considers painting, culinary history, or designing housewares. Emily Ogden opts for wildlife veterinarian, a field combining care for animals with scientific knowledge. Paisley Rekdal expresses interest in photography or revisiting medieval studies. Jim Shepard lists veterinarian, paleontologist, or film director as potential careers. These choices reveal the authors’ diverse interests and the skills they value beyond writing.
The authors reflect on their writing strengths and areas for improvement. Emily Ogden values surprising turns of thought but acknowledges challenges with hierarchical arguments. Ankur Thakkar finds narrative voice and tone natural but struggles with plot development. Paisley Rekdal highlights syntax and narrative attachment but admits to verbosity. Grace Krilanovich cites language and sensory details as strengths but seeks better plot construction and the ability to write something truly scary. Jim Shepard notes proficiency in action, exposition, and dialogue but admits weaknesses in character description and middles of narratives, while excelling at endings.
The authors address the challenge of writing with the assumption that others might care about their work. Jim Shepard compares writing to play, using the analogy of a child in a sandbox who doesn’t know what she’s doing. Paisley Rekdal jokes that poetry readers are already a niche audience. Grace Krilanovich describes a long period of writing without external pressure, treating the novel as a personal amusement. Ankur Thakkar frames novels as gifts, expressing a desire to engage with others’ perspectives. Emily Ogden emphasizes that addressing others is permissible and doesn’t assume their interest, framing writing as an invitation rather than a demand.
