Scalzi Unleashed!
Posted: July 26th, 2009 | Author: jeff | Filed under: Authorship | Tags: Cats, Humor, Magazines, Nonfiction, Scalzi, Writing | Comments Off
Published this profile of writer John Scalzi in 2007. It appeared in…, ah…, let’s call it The Pop Culture Smorgasbord Magazine for Nerds (there were compensation issues, so I’ll let it go unnamed) at chain store newsstands across the continent. It has, to my dismay, disappeared since then. The magazine in question has a disappointingly meager web presence with no archive to speak of, and the piece isn’t available anywhere else. So, I thought I’d give it a home here now.
At the time I interviewed him, Scalzi was breaking big in the world of science fiction. He had already been a successful journalist, business copywriter and blogger for many years, but in 2006 his novels were beginning to receive rave reviews, prestigious awards, big readership, and he was being hailed as the “new Robert Heinlein.”
Just six weeks before our meeting — which went treble the time I was expecting, thanks to his generosity and hospitality — Scalzi made an internet sensation of himself by Scotch-taping a slice of raw bacon to the side of his cat. If you weren’t aware of this, I understand if that last sentence strikes you as lacking a certain amount of, you know, sense. You’ll have to read the profile to achieve enlightenment. I explain here because over the past 30 or so months, Scalzi has been branded “The Bacon Man” and no bacon-related internet news goes unreported by commenters on his blog. Despite his reaping what he hath sown, I feel kind of bad now for the bacon-centric approach I took to framing his story.
I also took the picture. I was nervous and flubbed the focus and lighting on many shots, but this one — taken after I lay on the ground and told him to look at me as if I was some strange bug — came out great. Yes, he actually looks like he’s about to kick me in the stomach, but that works too.
