Drew Millard will be reading at Difficult to Name on Saturday, Dec. 9
You wrote an especially great letter of recommendation on High-Visibility Golf Balls. What was the process like putting that together?
Not to sound all "pro athlete" about it, but I think the piece resonated because of hard work. I put my all into that Letter of Rec, as did its editor, Willy Staley, whose methods I think have permanently made me a better writer and editor. He worked through several drafts of my piece with me, and with each go-round asked me to give more weight to one section or another. After a few passes, we were able to take the best material from each draft, work it all together, smooth out the transitions, and voila. Because of Willy's tight editing, we ended up with something that functions both as an exploration of how my rediscovery of golf helped me overcome a nervous breakdown, as well as an offering of hope to people who are currently going through it. I think its ultimate message is that depression is shitty and terrible, but that once a person feels ready to recover, they can find the external help that allows them to put in the work to create long-lasting interior change. Beyond that, I wrote the piece while listening to a lot of Danzig, and I think a little of Glenn's satanic fairy dust rubbed off into my Google Doc. Here, watch this video of him hanging out shirtless in his library:
What's your favorite thing to do around the holidays?
Going to see whatever the new Star Wars movie is with my mom and dad.
What can people expect from your reading?
I am going to read whatever Jeremy Gordon read before me and pretend that I wrote it, and then act really offended if anyone accuses me of plagiarism.