An Interview with A.S. King

A.S. King is the author of Dust of 100 Dogs and Please Ignore Vera Dietz.

1. Dust of 100 Dogs and Please Ignore Vera Dietz are very different books. What was it like writing two books that are completely opposite each other?

I try to write completely different books. In the case of these two, yes, I think they couldn’t be more different. But to put it into better perspective, D100D was the 6th novel I wrote and VERA DIETZ was the 9th. The other seven were just as different from each other. 2011’s EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS is also different from these two, and so on. The one thing that stays constant in my work is the A.S. King. Which is to say: my books can be interpreted different ways depending on the reader and are generally not linear. They are usually a bit out of the ordinary and they often contain either magic realism, metaphor or some sort of bizarre happening that is hard to explain. Also, there are jokes intertwined with heavy stuff. That’s me.

2. Was it hard to write Please Ignore Vera Dietz because of the different points of view and the flow charts?

You’re never going to believe this. PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ came out pretty much in the order that you see it in today. There was a bit of shifting, but not much. Each point of view showed up in place as if it grew there and the flow charts were my favorite part! In hindsight, I wish all books were as easy to write as VERA DIETZ.

3. Readers of Please Ignore Vera Dietz know and love Pagoda Pizza. What are your best and worst pizza-related experiences?

Well, Pagoda Pizza is from my imagination, but I did work as a pizza delivery driver for about three or four years in high school and college. My best pizza experiences were the tips. (Seriously. TIP YOUR DRIVER. Even a dollar is good.) My worst experiences usually involved getting lost, being late, going into particularly bad parts of town and nasty dogs who bit.

4. Describe Dust of 100 Dogs and Please Ignore Vera Dietz in five words each.

Impossible! But I’ll try in my own weird way.
D100D: Love prevails. Evil prevails. Choose.
PIVD: Ignoring things makes them bigger.

5. Is there anything you'd like to add?

Actually, yes. I’d love to take a minute to thank you, Zoe, and to thank my readers and the many bloggers who have spread the word about my work. If it wasn’t for people like you, I’d be out of a job. Also, from my fortune cookie last night: “Everything you are against weakens you. Everything you are for empowers you.” Isn’t that awesome?