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Gillian Will
Able Interviewer: So, Gillian, you’re a character.
Gillian Will: That’s what people say.
AI: I mean, a real character.
Gillian: You’re making me blush.
AI: No, a character lik...view moreAble Interviewer: So, Gillian, you’re a character.
Gillian Will: That’s what people say.
AI: I mean, a real character.
Gillian: You’re making me blush.
AI: No, a character like not a real person.
Gillian: Now you’re hurting my feelings.
AI: Do characters have feelings?
Gillian: Wouldn’t you?
AI: I don’t know ... I never thought about it.
Gillian: Well, my author definitely wrote me to have feelings. I can’t imagine what’s wrong with yours.
AI: My feelings or my author?
Gillian: Your author, of course.
AI: I am not a character!
Gillian: So you say.
AI: Are you really a man or a woman?
Gillian: What are you, some kind of North Carolina restroom cop?
AI: I should have seen that coming.
Gillian: Sorry, but I forgot to bring my birth certificate.
AI: And we were finally starting to get somewhere. So ... why did your author feel he or she had to create a character to write The State of Wyoming?
Gillian: We need to invent a new third person pronoun here.
AI: We do?
Gillian: A gender neutral one. Instead of ‘he or she.’
AI: Okay.
Gillian: ‘Xe.’ Actually, someone already invented it.
AI: I hate it when that happens. Okay ... why did your author feel xe had to create a character to write The State of Wyoming?
Gillian: I thought you’d never ask. It’s kind of pathetic, really. My author wants to publish in a different genre, to publish traditionally, some kind of validation thing. It’s like xe needs someone else to tell xem xe is good before xe can believe it.
AI: Xem?
Gillian: Objective case.
AI: And this relates to creating your character how?
Gillian: Well, you have to understand that xe’s kind of paranoid, too--xe thinks that if Wyoming doesn’t sell well it could hurt xers chances for a traditional contract.
AI: Xers would be the possessive case.
Gillian: You’re not as dumb as you look.
AI: So your author doesn’t expect Wyoming to sell well?
Gillian: Plan for success but prepare for failure.
AI: What does that even mean?
Gillian: Beats me. It’s what people say.
AI: I’m afraid to ask, but who says?
Gillian: Someone must have said it. Google it if you must. ‘There’s nothing new under the sun.’
AI: Well, the format of Wyoming seems pretty new to me. A serial novel that reads like a TV show.
Gillian: Thanks.
AI: How did you get the idea for that?
Gillian: From a news item, about President Obama making a western states speaking tour. The schedule they handed out to reporters showed a speech in Colorado, but the state highlighted on the map was Wyoming.
AI: That’s pretty funny.
Gillian: I thought so. Then I wondered how they would fix it to vet things like that when the Executive Branch has no organizational structure by state. So create one: the Fifty States Program, one job per state. They’d turn into patronage jobs for millennial slackers of course, but what if one of the slackers was actually the scion of a famous political family? It sounded like a sitcom.
AI: What’s the hardest part about the format?
Gillian: My author likes to write character thoughts, but TV doesn’t have those. It’s a discipline thing.
AI: We’re not going there. I take it your personal politics leans left?
Gillian: Let’s just say I turned Donald Trump into a character. He’s in Episodes 7-9.
AI: What do you do when you’re not writing?
Gillian: Whatsamatter? Can’t get a date?
AI: I’m the one asking the questions.
Gillian: Is that so?
AI: I mean, you’re married, right?
Gillian: To an incredible guy we call ‘the Hubster.’
AI: And two little girls?
Gillian: Both still in diapers. Nappies, if you prefer.
AI: When do you have time to write?
Gillian: My motto is ‘Write when your baby sleeps.’
AI: When do you have time to sleep?
Gillian: I’ll get back to you on that.
AI: So, what can we expect from future episodes?
Gillian: All 13 episodes of Season 1 are now available, so we’ll see if there's interest to renew it for Season 2.
AI: Gillian Will, thank you. It’s been a pleasure.
Gillian: Thank you, Able. And good luck with your whatever.
AI: Gillian Will, author of the political comedy serial The State of Wyoming, 13 episodes available now wherever fine e-readers have signal.view less
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