Mike Nagel [Host: Kevin Maloney]

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Kevin Maloney interviews Mike Nagel.

Mike Nagel is the author of Duplex (Autofocus Books, 2022) and now the author of Culdesac (Autofocus Books, 2024). He also wrote the music for this podcast and a column called The Unintentionalist for the literary magazine Little Engines.

Kevin Maloney is the author of The Red-Headed Pilgrim (Two Dollar Radio, 2023), Horse Girl Fever (CLASH Books, 2024), and Cult of Loretta (Lazy Fascist, 2015).

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Full conversation topics include:

-- a new temporary living situation

-- writing junk mail for a living

-- Vonnegut

-- writing the Unintentionalist column for Little Engines

-- starting in music early and writing later

-- early influential books

-- Mike's surprise breakout hit DUPLEX

-- quitting drinking after publishing the book

-- the new book CULDESAC, a sequel of sorts to DUPLEX

-- the troubling titling the new book

-- following up a first book that gets some attention

-- writing as a way to bring meaning to mundanity

-- thinking about health in mid-life and in the new book

-- the comedy in Mike's work 

-- revising and not knowing if something is working

-- seamless drifting and losing the point

-- unintentionalism

-- Jamba Juice as character

--  the high stakes of the every day

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Podcast theme music also provided by Mike Nagel. Here's more of his project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.

The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.

Episode and show artwork by Amy Wheaton.