Today's interviewee is as classy and kind as he is talented. He is one of my oldest writing friends--I actually credit him with my writing career. Shortly after I graduated in 2001, I met with him because my dad and a family friend of his thought he could help me out. He did, getting me my first job, but more importantly, told me about all these cool places online where people publish writing. And the rest is history. His latest novel, The Voiceover Artist,  released just last month, was described by Keegan-Michael Key as "the most accurate depiction of the Chicago improv world that I've ever read" and named a Top Indie Fall Fiction title by Library Journal and a Midwest Connections Pick by the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association. His first book, a collection of short stories about performers called Captive Audience, was named an Indie Next Notable Book by the American Booksellers Association. By day he works at the digital marketing agency closerlook, inc., where he is VP of Creative. You can learn more about him here.

Where and when does a person with a dayjob and two little boys and a house and a life and a wife get his creative writing done?
Much of The Voiceover Artist was written in the very early morning, before I left home for my full-time job. That was the way I got my writing done before having children and with only one child. With two children, my writing happens at any hour I can make it happen. I've had to shift my paradigm to that espoused by Neil Young, who says that if an idea arrives in your mind, you show your respect to the idea (and the Muse) by dropping whatever you're doing to get the idea recorded or, in the case of a writer, written down.

 What input did your brothers give you about the sibling rivalry present in The Voiceover Artist?
I didn't ask my brothers (or my sister) for input per se on sibling rivalry. I think we have lived enough to recognize rivalry between and among us, to know what exacerbates it and what quells it. I was able to apply some of that lived experience in writing the relationship between Simon Davies and his brother Connor in The Voiceover Artist, but much of what I wrote was imagined--scenarios that tread into dark places that my relationships with my siblings have not and, with any luck, never will.

You're married to another creative person. What have you learned for cultivating a relationship where both partners experience similar extreme highs, lows, and a dependence on objective opinions of others?
Finding time for two parents (my wife Tiffany is an actor on stage and screen) to do their creative work is a consistent challenge. Often, in any given moment, things feel out of balance in any number of directions, so we try to look at larger stretches of time--a month, or three months--when we ask ourselves how we are doing in enabling each other to work creatively while meeting the needs (and many of the innumerable wants) of our two young boys.

For all of the challenges, though, I very much enjoy being married to an artist. Tiffany's art feeds my own, and I hope that mine feeds hers. When Tiffany works in the theater, or we see her fellow company members perform, I find myself renewed, invigorated, and excited to pour that energy into my writing.

I never figured out a cool catchphrase for signing any of my books. Did you have one for Captive Audience and have you landed on one for The Voiceover Artist?
One of the best things about the title page of The Voiceover Artist is that the enormous type leaves very little room for clever handwritten messages. For that, and for many other things related to excellent design, I am indebted to the book's designer, Alban Fischer.

Any cleverness I attempt when signing a book is tailored to a recipient whom I know well. With strangers, thus far, I have tended to lead with a brief, sincere expression of my gratitude for the time they will spend with the book.

Is there any creative downside to having a supportive, loving family and comfortable, largely-happy upbringing?
Fortunately or not, my life to date has included some pathos. I don't feel that I am short on material in that regard. That said, you're right that I have a supportive, loving family, and I'm lucky to have many good, loyal friends. Many of these friends and family members attended the launch party for The Voiceover Artist, and as I watched them enjoy one another's company (after they'd enjoyed readings by Cyn Vargas and Ryan Bartelmay and short films by one Steve Delahoyde), I thought to myself that "Having supportive family and friends' is one of the possible answers to the question, 'What enables a person to write and re-write and re-write a novel and see it well published?'"

You don't organize typical readings for your books. What's inspired you to go beyond the ordinary bookstore appearance? What's an event you've always wanted to do but still haven't been able to pull of?
Typical readings have their place, and I'm lucky enough to be doing a number of them to promote The Voiceover Artist. In addition to readings, I wanted to create occasions to discuss some of the cultural questions that surround my novel.

As the novel has a plot arc set in Chicago's improv-comedy scene, my publisher and I have programmed events we call Lit/Comedy Roundtables in Chicago, Brooklyn, and (in April, we hope) L.A. The Roundtables are gatherings of book people who love comedy and comedy people who love books to discuss how (or if?) comedy and contemporary literature inform one another. The question has been compelling enough to attract fantastic panelists--one Claire Zulkey among them, as well as Mike Sacks of Vanity Fair, Naomi Ekperigin of Broad City, stand-up comedian Rebecca O'Neal, and Jen Spyra of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert--and enthusiastic, attentive audiences. I've sold some books at the Roundtables, but the real pleasure has resided in engaging talented, thoughtful people in the discussion.

What's the last song you listened to that was the perfect soundtrack for the exact moment you were experiencing?
Just before writing this response, I had a late lunch alone at Walter's in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. As I sat at the bar eating a Vietnamese sandwich, Black Sheep's "The Choice Is Yours (This or That)" played over the speakers. The collision and coincidence of aesthetics among the song and the room and the sandwich and the weather and the few other people in the restaurant struck me. I allowed my head to bob in rhythm, though shallowly.

Something I get from your writing (and knowing you in general) is that you get hooked on details--not the band, but the band poster, not the commercial but the voiceover artist. With that said, what's something you've always wished you had a finer appreciation for?
Sometimes, I feel that I cannot appreciate the taste and texture of my food as fully as others can. I am a fairly adventurous eater and appreciate variety from meal to meal, but I sometimes suspect that I am not wired to derive the pleasure others take from eating. Other times, I wonder if the issue is not my dopamine receptors but rather my lack of knowledge--that I am simply unaware of the levels on which food can truly be appreciated. These limitations (real or perceived) contribute to my having what some would consider an overly utilitarian approach to eating. More often than not, I eat for health and energy rather than pleasure, and I fear I may be missing more than a little of what eating has to offer.

How does it feel to be the 412th person interviewed for Zulkey.com?
As we've known each other personally for the entirety of this website's existence and you've interviewed so many others before me, I can only conclude that we've done a good job of keeping in touch, that you haven't needed to interview me as a way of finding out what's happening in my life or sharing what's happening in yours, and that makes me appreciate my friendship with Zulkey--the woman behind the website--all the more.