CLIVE SCULLY is a journalist with lady fingers, but he's a good guy. He has sat down with me over the last few weekends to poke holes in my inferiority/delusional narcissism complex and get to grips with writing, fears and why all I want to do it get lost.
CS: Hello again.
DL: Hello Clive.
CS: Dare I ask?
DL: I’m working it I am, I’m getting copies for the
bookstore as we speak.
[Clive pours the drinks]
CS: So say it takes off, you got any plans for more
Doug Morgan?
DL: Takes off?
Didn’t you say it was unpopular.
CS: I said it was unmainstream, but I know what you
mean but you never know what’ll happen.
DL: Well yeah.
I mean it’s not like I’d be writing sequels. It’s not a Jack Reacher character with a
continuing arch and all that. It’s more
like Henry Chinaski or Arturo Bandini.
It’s kinda like an alter ego, and in it being an alter ego it let’s me
channel experiences in life and even work through others, but also do things you
wouldn’t necessarily do. I remember
David Lynch telling me about how he was cut off driving down Mulholland one
night and what he wanted to do was run the fucker off the road and kill them
but instead he went home and wrote Lost Highway
CS: So it’s like purging?
DL: And a damn sight cheaper than therapy, that’s for
sure.
CS: And you’ve got enough life and experience to write
for Morgan like Fante did Bandini?
DL: I’ve screwed up enough yeah, and when you look at
it Fante did four Bandini books, Bukowski did five Chinaski books…
CS: What happens when you run out of life?
DL: I’ll do something else. It’s not like anyone’s reading them.
[Clive and Dave laugh]
CS: How’s the writing coming along?
DL: It’s good.
CS: Care to share?
DL: No.
CS: That simple?
[Clive pours the drinks]
DL: After I wrote Lost
Angeles I told my fiancé about ideas I had for other things. So I started them, all filled with enthusiasm
and they turned to shit right in front of me.
It’s like I didn’t cook it for long enough before letting people in on
it.
CS: And you need to do that?
DL: Clearly. I
didn’t tell anyone I was writing something new and the first draft has turned
out ok.
CS: Just ok?
DL: The missus is impressed when I call what I write
ok.
CS: I’ve really enjoyed hooking up for these chats.
DL: Yeah me too, pour
me another drink there.
