First, I wrote a story for Mom.me about why pregnant women need to be less obsessed with their birth plans.

Today's interviewee is a lovely writer man who I originally know via Chicago's thriving live lit scene. He created the great series Essay Fiesta (which he no longer curates but it's still great) and now hosts the also-great Guts & Glory with pal Samantha Irby. He's performed at Funny Ha-Ha and co-hosts WBEZ's "PleasureTown," a story-based podcast told in serial form that details the history of a little-known, failed Oklahoma utopian society. Its second season premiers in May but in the meantime, special minisodes are released every two weeks, including an upcoming collaboration with Reading Out Loud that comes out on Feb. 11. Also, when I used to live in the city, he and his husband and their cute little dogs would sometimes walk by our house. You can learn a lot more about him here.

I love talking about this with other reading producers: what, to you, as a reader, producer, and audience member, are the differences between a well-produced reading and a big sloppy boring mess?
Oh, man. I've done some great shows, and I've done some not-so-great shows. What separates the two for me are the priorities of the producer. Shows that are produced as vanity projects tend to give less consideration toward the well-being of the performers and the audience. You know, the show starts much later than the advertised time, it stretches on for more than two hours, the performers are all best friends of the producer, etc. Shows that strive to provide a platform for quality entertainment/art and wish to foster a community tend to be much more solid.

How do you and Sam make your reading lineup?
Sam probably won't mind if I spill the secret sauce. We both book our performers collaboratively. We actually use a spreadsheet in Google Docs to make sure we aren't overbooking or duplicating our efforts. After that, as far as ordering the line-up goes, about a week before each show, I request all performers to send me a brief synopsis of their pieces with a comment toward tone, e.g., this story is about my dead grandma, and it's sad OR this story is about my dead grandma and it's hilarious! I then order the line-up based off the content and tone of each story as well as my familiarity with the performer's style.

What are some of the biggest snafus you've handled producing Guts & Glory and Essay Fiesta?
Because Essay Fiesta is at the Book Cellar, which has limitations on adult language, I had performers on occasion drop an F-bomb. I couldn't really do much except plaster on a smile as my eyes clearly conveyed a look of concern. Over time, I began to learn to let go a little more. I grew to understand I couldn't fix something that happened in the moment, like a reader gratuitously cursing, going long or--God forbid--reading off a laptop (yes, that happened.) Over time, I just began to tell myself that everyone gets a shot, and if they screw it up, I just won't book them again. 

We've talked offline about how getting older makes us less inclined to get out and do stuff (and that's okay!) With that said, which readings or events in Chicago actually make you put on your coat and go out?
I have a love/hate relationship with socializing. I crave human interaction, but I hate people. This makes reading series and storytelling events kind of perfect because I'm often in similar company. I think Write Club is spectacular. It gets some of the best talent and most dynamic writers/performers in the city. Story Club is an amazing bunch of people. Both the North Side and South Side shows have a vibe that makes everyone feel like best friends. If I was more of a night owl, I'd also say Messing with a Friend, Susan Messing's weekly improv show wherein she picks someone from the improv scene to play with. I used to see that show every week when I was an improviser. Hugely inspiring. 

Your experience curating readings must have helped prepare you for creating a podcast: what parts of the process were you not prepared for?
Pretty much everything. My co-producer and I have largely learned on the fly, with tremendous support from WBEZ, particularly "Golden" Joe DeCault, who heads up WBEZ's podcasts. I do have a background in journalism, and I used to do some DIY music recording, but yeah, using audio to tell a story was pretty new to me. And the terminology: Like, what's a billboard? And what's a foley? And the technology: What the heck is Feedburner? Fortunately, I'm good at knowing what I don't know and then identifying people who know more than me. That has been a very helpful skill set. 

Where did the idea for PleasureTown come from, and how did you and Erin know it was an idea worth taking to the stage and air?
Erin (which I feel compelled to mention is a man despite what the spelling might lead you to believe) and I had been in the live lit/storytelling scene for a while. We weren't incredibly close, but we had a mutual admiration for one another. One day, he and I were goofing with each other on Facebook about how we both dress like old-timey riverboat people. (At the time, he and I wore a lot of vests and hats to our readings.) I blamed it on my Texas upbringing. He mentioned that he was from Oklahoma. That got us joking about a storytelling show with a 19th-century southern motif, which then turned into a serious idea about a limited theatrical run wherein we recruit storytelling performers to bring to life characters of our own creation.

The podcast idea, I think, was something I had mentioned early in the process to Erin. It was sort of a pipedream, like "Man, if this goes well, we could expand the concept into a podcast or something." So it was always in my mind. I don't really believe in the power of positive thinking and the universe providing and all that, but this was one of those times where the new age gods seemed to smile upon me. 

You, like I, have taught blogging. What are some of the biggest concepts that seem hardest for students to grasp?
From the technical side, I'd say SEO, which stands for search-engine optimization. It's an incredibly important tactic to employ if you want to increase site traffic, but it's also an ever-changing field. I'm fortunate in that my day job helps me stay on top of best practices in this area.

From the writer side, it's trying time and again to get bloggers to write for their audience and not themselves. If you want a readership, you need to write what your readers want, not what will serve you the best. Blogging is often a solipsistic exercise anyway, but writing like it's your Live Journal will only be of so much interest to so many people for so long. You need to develop your niche and capitalize on it. 

I've seen you read twice at Guts & Glory and both times you wrote really personal pieces [one about depression, but the tone of each was so different. What topics are hardest for you to write about and share?
Honestly, shock stories are easy for me. I know you heard a story I'm fairly notorious for--a graphic story about sex and bodily functions. That story was a breeze to tell compared to the most recent one you heard about my battle with depression. I'm not often good at being emotionally vulnerable, which I think is one reason why I'm attracted to this sort of quasi-confessional form of performance. There's a sort of protection that being in front of a mic affords me, like my sharing is perceived as a performance and there's that whole fourth wall thing. But even with this insulation, the stories I tell that attempt to convey a raw, honest feeling--one that might not do my reputation any favors--are the hardest.  

You've got a dayjob that's also related to writing: do you find that doing so helps feed your creative writing or you have to keep them separate? When do you do each?
I love writing. It is by far my most preferred medium for communication. I also don't really know how to do much else, and I do enjoy food and shelter, so it's how I've made a living. While what I write for my day job usually lacks the creative flare I get to exercise in my other writing, it still helps me hone certain valuable writing techniques, like concision and clear communication. I find that when I do get to sit down and write creatively, it is incredibly liberating, like I've been dammed up and now the floodgates are open. That said, sometimes I get a little fatigued, like I only have so many words in me per day. 

As for how I split my time, I try to be fairly regimented. I usually keep my work hours to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. My creative stuff comes after that and on weekends. It helps that I work from home, so I don't waste the usual one to two hours commuting, which can make a world of a difference. 

You used to perform standup comedy: when was the last time you went onstage? What do you miss and not-miss about it?
My co-producer of Essay Fiesta, Alyson Lyon, and I did several surrealist sketches for a popular comedy show in town called Entertaining Julia (one sketch ended with me practically naked, slathered in ketchup and dancing to an acoustic rendition of "When Doves Cry"). That was probably about four or five years ago? Before that, I did a memorable set at a gay bathhouse of all places. 

What I miss most of all about stand-up is joke writing. I love joke writing. It's like sudoku or crosswords, but like with a literary twist. I describe it as verbal slight-of-hand; you have to create an entire pattern of thought and then undermine that pattern in a surprising way that, ideally, illuminates some larger truth. I'm very ambidextrous when it comes to my right and left brain, so joke writing really allowed me to strike that balance. 

I don't miss performing stand-up. Sure, I loved the laughs, but overall, it's a nerve-wracking performance art that requires either incredible courage or ego (or maybe both). Also, like I said, I'm a word guy. Talking? Not so much. 

If I waved a wand and made all the food in the world calorie-free today, what would you eat?
You are speaking my dream! I'm so self-concious about the way I look for so many reasons (gay, former fat kid, etc.). I'd have to go with New York-style pizza with Hostess Snowballs for dessert. 

You got married in October: what, if anything, have you learned about marriage? How is it different for you than "just" being in a long-term relationship?
Marriage is different. Mario (my husband) and I were together for over 5 years before tying the knot. We didn't want to get married until it was legally recognized because that's really what mainly motivated us to take that extra leap. We wanted all the rights that marriage affords. But it hasn't been all Skittles and couscous. Getting married was stressful. We were fighting a lot that month before our wedding, which I have come to find out is not uncommon. Stress was at an all-time high. And then after the wedding, we faced a small crisis that really taught us the importance of compassion and forgiveness. I guess I've learned that marriage is really an exercise in supplanting the ego. You really have to place your love above hurt feelings. When you're married, there is no winning in being right (and I love being right). 

 How does it feel to be the 403rd person interviewed for Zulkey.com?
Almost as good as being the 402nd, slightly better than being the 404th.