C.C. Humphreys new book, Plague ($24.95, Doubleday), seems of the minute now that the ebola crisis dominates the headlines. His book, however, takes place in plague-ridden 1655 London.
He’s at the International Festival of Authors in conversation with Roch Carrier, Saturday (October 25), 11 am, at the Fleck reading October 25, 3 pm, at the Brigantine Room and in the A Pox On Your Head panel October 29, 7:30 pm, at the Studio Theatre. (See Listing)
Here’s how he answered our literary quips questionnaire.
Summarize your book in a tweet.
Plague: serial killer story during the Great Plague of London. Highwaymen, thieftakers, actresses, penguins. (I may have made the last one up.)
What important book have you pretended to have read? Were you convincing?
Moby Dick. I was convincing until about 10 seconds in, when I said it was about a famous musician’s penis….
Recount your weirdest encounter with a fan.
I am also an actor. I played a gladiator once in a TV series. I wore a loincloth. A fan gave me a picture he’d drawn of me. My loincloth was… fuller.
Who should star as you in your biopic.
Lena Dunham. I believe in non-traditional casting and she can see into my soul.
Lena Dunham, creator and star of TV’s Girls, has received $3.5 million for her first book. Care to comment?
Because she’ll be playing me in my biopic, she should be willing to share some of her advance with me. So, Lena, call me already!
You’re ready to write the next bestselling dystopia for young adults. What’s the premise?
A tweet I publish goes viral. People believe I am the next messiah and come to worship me on the small island where I live – which is on the San Andreas Fault. The island collapses under their weight, triggering massive earthquakes that devastate the planet. Fortunately many still believe I am the Messiah and bring offerings of food and beer to my ark.
Do writers make good lovers? Why?
I’ve conducted a poll of one – me – and discovered that 100 per cent of people believe that writers make not just good but great lovers. Apparently it’s because they painstakingly research a new project, are willing to improvise, go slow-slow, quick-quick, slow and cry real tears when it’s all over.
Do book reviews still matter or can you accomplish everything you need from social media?
The good ones matter a lot. The bad ones? Well, I’ve personally never read one. But I think reviews are important, mainly for reasons of schadenfreude. Um, what’s social media again?
Whose memoir do you not want to read.
Obviously I am going to read Lena’s because I must be featured heavily, although she’s never met me. I won’t read anything by 1) a soccer player, 2) a more successful author than myself and 4) anyone who can’t count.
