Extie Ecks interview with Meg Tuite

So, my gut feeling about this special interview was to really get personal with you, Extie. You have many fans and stalkers out there, so I thought we’d help them to work some of the intimate details of your life into their diaries and night-wrestling fantasies. Okay, first question: How long have you been a practicing Mormon and why Joseph Smith as your first lover?’’

Hi Meg.  Can I call you Meg?  I hope so because I wouldn’t know what else to call you.  First off, let me just say how great it was to meet you at AWP.  I hope you didn’t mind my hands in your pants after that third shot.  It’s how I say hello in Mormon.  I’ve been practicing Mormon since that night, so you know, about a week.  Joseph Smith just happened to hop in the cab with me first so, you know, synchronicity and whatnot.  It could’ve been anybody, really.

I have always felt a deep kinship after the third shot, Extie, so no, that’s just Mormon protocol. And I’ve heard tell that Joseph is fast and furious. Kind of like Santa Claus, except instead of dropping toys he has to drop his pants for many wives and woman that are waiting for satisfaction, but quick. I hope you got what you needed from Joseph before he flew off. I was so happy to finally meet you also, Extie. What did you think of the whole AWP experience? Any inside stories you’d like to share?

This was my second AWP so I was pretty much expecting all of the awkwardness and overwhelming-ness, so that aside, I had a great time.  I love my internet friends!  The only inside stories involve DJ Berndt and I’d hate to tarnish his respectable reputation with any deplorable details of possible acts of vulgarity that may or may not have been performed on one another.

I believe that DJ would be ecstatic to hear that he and xTx might or might not have been non-spectators in a spectator sport. And really DxtJx has a special code to it that very few can decipher.

So, I just read over a few times “He is Talking to the Fat Lady,” one of your memorable chapbooks, (unless you’ve exceeded your five shot limit and then must be read again with a pure heart and humbling brain cells.) Tell me about these exceptional collections of xTx brilliance?

First of all, LOL brilliance!  (But thanks!)  Back in 2010, Matt DeBenedictis started his Safety Third Enterprises press and approached me to do a chapbook with him.  I was so thrilled!  I love Matt and was excited to have the chance to work with him.  I selected a handful of existing favorites and added a handful of new and he made it nice and pretty and birthed it into the world.

I think what I wanted for this collection, being as small as it is, was for every piece to make a visceral impact.  I didn’t want any wasted stories.  Even when I added the two new stories for the re-print that just went on sale, I made sure they had that same “strangers in a forest clearing smearing mud on a naked lady” sort of feel to them; images or emotions that would stay with the reader while they were having dinner with their children and feel sort of gross about it.  That, for me, is a win.

Haha! Definitely a piece to be read over gyros or shepherd’s pie with the family. What projects do we have to look forward to in the future from xtx? I’m always waiting for something to appear and love that publishers approach you and you don’t have to fondle them to get something erected.

I have a secret thing coming out later this year and a few up and coming online publications and  I am attempting to write an actual novel and that is taking all of my time at the moment.  That’s about it!

I love secret things and look forward to all your upcoming publications and the novel! DAMN! You’re working it all over the place. Any new books out there that you are feeling inspired by?

Well, Murakami’s 1Q84 has some surreal elements that leant me inspiration for the novel I’m working on.   Now I have a huge stack of books from pre-AWP and post-AWP so, hopefully I will find some inspiration there as well.

How about ending this interview with one more intimate detail of xTx’s life that all your fans can gyrate to?

I like it best on top now.

Thank you so much, Extie, for sending us these three powerful micro-flash pieces. Hope everyone enjoys the read!