19 Rounds with...Ray Shea
July 20, 2017
We return to asking the hard-hitting questions of our editorial FAM, this time with memoir editor Ray Shea. He's the latest to tackle the 19 rounds:
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1. Early bird or night owl?Â
I have pretty bad insomnia and I hate the sun so night night night. But I'm losing the ability to sleep late. Honestly I don't really sleep all that much.
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2. What was your worst haircut?Â
1983: I wanted something Bowie, the stylist thought I was more of a Tears for Fears guy. It took a long time for the sides to grow back in.
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3. If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Allegri, Miserere Mei Deus
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4. Can you roll your tongue?Â
Yes.
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5. Mayonnaise: yes or no?Â
HELL yes.
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6. What is your least favorite word to come across when reading a book or story?
Chuckled.
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7. Which movie was better than the book?
Blade Runner. Philip K. Dick was a brilliant idea man but honestly he was kind of a methed-out hack when it came to prose.
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8. What was your first concert?
1980 Day of Rock'n'Roll In the Superdome. Cheap Trick, Christopher Cross, The Eagles, and Foreigner. I should have just left after Cheap Trick but the daiquiri stand wasn't checking ID.
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9. It's Friday night. You're home alone. What did you order for dinner and what's on the TV?
Pizza (Italian sausage, green peppers, onions). Something with subtitles, probably black & white.
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10. How do you take your coffee?
Cream, no sugar. As often as possible. See also question 1.Â
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11. What expression do you use that most people have never heard?
I compulsively quote movies so usually something random from The Godfather or Aliens or Kelly's Heroes or 8 1/2. People look at me funny.
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12. What movie have you seen the most times?
Not counting kid movies? Blade Runner. Or maybe Kelly's Heroes.
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13. What is the best thing you cook or bake?
Crawfish ettoufee.
14. Finish this sentence: More people should be reading _______________.
That's already a complete sentence.
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15. Favorite time-waster?
Lately I can't stop reading Trump news. It's worse than Bubble Witch.
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16. What's the hardest thing about writing?
Creating something out of nothing.
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17. What's the best thing about writing?
Revising when you think you've got something.
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18. What is your favorite sentence from a short story or poem?
"All the time you spend tryin to get back what's been took from you there's more goin out the door. After a while you just try and get a tourniquet on it." --Cormac McCarthy, No Country For Old Men
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19. What question were you hoping to be asked?
"May I have ten thousand marbles please?"
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****
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For more about Ray, check out his website, Twitter, and his work in Split Lip.
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