Five with Timothy Schaffert

Happy Monday! Ready for another "Five With..."? We thought you might be. Welcome Timothy Schaffert, author of Devils In The Sugar Shop, The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God and The Phantom Limbs of The Rollow Sisters, and is the man behind (Downtown) Omaha Lit Fest.

1. What are you working on now?

I foolishly have two novels in the works at the same time. I started one that I like very much, but it was coming along only in fits and starts, needing more time to fester in my brain, then this other one cropped up and commanded my attention, fluttering its eyelashes and stealing me away.

2. What is your favorite part of literary festivals and why?

I would say the torrid affairs, but I have yet to have one at a literary festival. So I'll say the potential for torrid affairs. The reasons should be obvious.

3. Who are your favorite small press mover/shaker types at the minute?

I was just at a conference where there were miles of tables of small press people, all of them so skinny and nerdy-glam with horned-rim spectacles and cigarette pants and charming Attention Deficit Disorder, so I'm having a hard time picking my favorites. So I'll be biased and pick a few who have been good to me lately: I love what Jonathan Messinger does (full disclosure: he accepted a story of mine for a featherproof mini-book), and the work he publishes is super-tantalizing. Kate Bernheimer, with her Fairy Tale Review, and now the Fairy Tale Review Press which is reissuing great books, is one of my favorites too. (Full disclosure: I have a story forthcoming in the Fairy Tale Review.) And both of them are fiction writers producing inspiring work of their own. I also want to include Zachary Schomburg and Mathias Svalina, who produce some beautiful books with their own Octopus Books, and who are destined for stardom.

4. Which author do you wish was coming to Pilcrow Lit Fest this year who is not?

Flannery O'Connor, peacocks and all.

5. If you were in charge of picking a theme song for Pilcrow Lit Fest this year, what would it be?

"(You're) Having My Baby" by Paul Anka, because we'll all be pregnant with ideas.