Interview with Brian Corley, Author of GILM!: Everybody’s Saying It

06 Mar 2024

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write GILM!?

GILM! started as a song for my band, The Mars McClanes, but when my bandmate suggested we change a lyric from the outro to “inspiringly insidious,” I wondered what that could mean. About six months later, I figured it out.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of GILM!, what would they be?

The easy answer is GILM! by The Mars McClanes. However, for Geoff “Bohemian Like You” by The Dandy Warhols, “Not Strong Enough” by boygenius for Corinne, and “Sour Times” by Portishead for Geoff’s Dad.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

I’m mostly into Contemporary Fantasy and Fantasy, YA or otherwise, but I also love a good biography. How to Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy isn’t exactly a biography, but it’s one of my favorite reads in the past few years. I love writing Contemporary Fantasy and Magical Realism. There’s nothing like looking at the world around you and imagining how it could be different. Like, what would happen if I turned the corner and there was a troll sitting on the curb scrolling through his phone?

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

It’s a little off in the future, but I’m excited to read Lish McBride’s Red in Tooth and Claw later on this year.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

That’s such a good question! It’s probably the first scene. I need to get better at writing first chapters, at least the initial go-round. So far, I’ve re-written every one of my first chapters after I’ve already finished writing the rest of the book, and GILM!’s was a complete rip-and-replace. Spending time in Geoff’s Dad’s store, Curio City was a blast. It sets the right tone for the rest of the story—dark with a hint of hijinks like Buffy, Wednesday, or The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

I do this sense memory thing where I light a certain kind of incense to get me into writing mode as quickly as possible. I’m surprised it works. I know it’s a trick, but it does.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

That GILM! as a word is totally legitimate, and everybody’s saying it.

Brian Corley is the author of the new book GILM!

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