Sometimes I wonder, why couldn’t I have been a fictional character? My clumsy use of English would be replaced with a language of snappy, snarky lines in response to other silvery tongues. Even if I were forced to stammer or say something foolish, at least it would have been intentional. There would be no more awkward conversations and silences – except when they’re necessary. Outwardly and inwardly, I would be glamorous. Or ugly, but “ugly” in a manner constructed to channel the sympathies of the audience. Even if I died, I would live. I would suffer for art.
What could possibly go wrong with an existence locked behind a screen, or defined by black squiggles on white paper? Well, OK, there are certain authors whose characters I don’t envy, and one of them comes for you.
Kyle Muntz will read Wednesday, February 1, 2017, at Hammes Campus Bookstore on Notre Dame. The reading begins at 7:30 PM. It is free and open to the public.
Kyle Muntz is the author of five novels: Scary People (2015, Eraserhead Press), Green Lights (2014, Civil Coping Mechanisms), VII (A Novel): The Life, Times, and Tragedy of Sir Edward William Locke the Third: Gentleman (2012, Enigmatic Ink), Sunshine in the Valley (2011, Civil Coping Mechanisms), and Voices (2010, Enigmatic Ink). Excerpts and other pieces of his have also been published in Gone Lawn, Step Chamber, The Journal of Experimental Fiction and Fiction International. His work incorporates elements of science fiction and fantasy along with elements of the avant-garde. Muntz is interested in the literature of aesthetic and ideas. He is a game designer and writer for the character driven RPG, The Pale City.
What aesthetics and ideas inform dirty pirates, abusive relationships, accidental profundity, heart-stealing demons and existential dread? You’ll have to wait until Februrary 1 to find out. You won’t see me in that book.
-Moon