Q: What is the best part of being a writer?

A: Getting to make a living from spending time with your imaginary friends.

Q: Is it true that you said that the Bram Stoker Awards of the HWA are an "embarrassment." If so, why do you feel that way?

A: I probably said it at some point, but I don't wish to dig up old nastiness. The Stokers don't really mean anything to me one way or the other these days.

Q: Is it true that Courtney Love dropped by at odd hours during the writing of the unauthorized biography and stole a certain blue pill?

A: No, thank God.

Q: Is it true that you keep your pens in a smiley-face mug on your desk?

A: Yes indeed. It was a gift from David Niall Wilson, and I don't know why he sent it to me, but something about it caught my fancy.

Q: Can you tell us a little about the research you did for your new novel Liquor?

A: I already knew the New Orleans restaurant scene well enough that I didn't have to do a lot of research, except about small, technical things like licensing. Of course, I did have a great many restaurant meals that were called "research" for tax purposes!

Q: Your latest book, Liquor, takes place deep inside the restaurant industry. What drew you to this particular world? Did you ever want to become a restaurateur yourself?

A: I've been married to a chef for fifteen years, and had long hoped to write a funny novel set in the New Orleans restaurant world. I remember first thinking about it in 1993 and realizing I didn't know enough about it yet. After several years of hearing stories, meeting characters, and eating meals, I finally felt ready to do it. As for being a restaurateur, no—Chris co-owned a restaurant in Athens, GA several years ago, and I don't ever want to give up that much of my life again. As he says, "It's like a 500-pound baby that never grows up."

Q: In the (wonderful and moving) chapbook "R.I.P.", you credit William S. Burroughs with shaping your prose style—could you expand on this a little? Have you ever considered trying Burroughs' cut-up style?

A: No, I'm not very interested in using other people's styles. What I like about Burroughs is his incredibly vivid imagery. I think people get distracted by his arcane subject matter and techniques, and don't always realize what a fine, gifted writer he was.

Q: You must be one of the few genre fiction writers to have written a biography of someone who is not a fellow genre writer (Courtney Love). How different was the experience of writing a biography? Would you do it again?

A: I doubt it. It was just a lucrative opportunity that came along at the right time (i.e., when I didn't have much else going on), and while Courtney herself was a real pain in the ass to work with, the actual writing was easy to the point of being dull. It gave me a few years of complete financial freedom, during which I traveled a lot and wrote a lot of short stories, but I'm currently too involved with my own fiction to feel much interest in taking on any other projects.

Q: Who's your favorite NBA team and why?

A: The Sacramento Kings, because I love the way they play and they're not afraid to show one another a little man-love.