We chat with author Clay McLeod Chapman about Acquired Taste, which is a collection of 25 short stories, packed full of humanity, humour and above all, relentless creeping dread.
Hi, Clay! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
First off—thanks so much for chatting with me about Acquired Taste. Really means a lot to me.
Hi—I’m Clay. I’m trying hard to tell stories. Spooky stories. I’m one of those guys who has navigated the world in the weirdest possible ways, spinning yarns for a living. Some times that’s fiction. Other times, it’s comics. Occasionally it’s for film. But it all comes back to this central premise of my sense of self—I want to tell stories. For better or worse, those stories tend to be a little, well… dark.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I grew up in the state of Virginia, where Poe ran rampant. I lived in his shadow for most of my childhood. Virginia—Richmond, in particular—loved to tout it’s ties to Edgar, so I was exposed to his words at a pretty early age.
My problem, though, was I was a pretty bad student. I’m sure I would’ve been diagnosed with some kind of attention deficient disorder by today’s standards, but way back then, when I was a kid, two hundred years ago, I just had a wandering imagination… and my grades totally showed it. But there was this one teacher—Ms. Royer, sixth grade English—who noticed where my mind might’ve been wandering and tried her damnedest to steer it in a productive direction. Even though I was failing her class, she struck a deal with me: Write a story, enter it into a competition, get some extra credit, pass her class, and move onto the seventh grade. Me, being a bit of an enterprising young lad, figured the more times I entered this particular writing competition, the more extra credit I’d get… so I ended up submitting a handful or bizarro stories… and, well, as fate would have it, one of them won. That’s all it took. I was hooked. Still a pretty terrible student, though. Head in the clouds.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: The Terrible Halloween Night by James Stevenson
- The one that made you want to become an author: Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Your collection of stories, Acquired Taste, is out September 9th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Nobody will come near me.
What can readers expect?
Twenty-five of the loveliest, most sumptuous, heartrending stories this side of Jane Austen.
Where did the inspiration for Acquired Taste come from?
Given that these are short stories, the inspiration is a bit scattershot… but to be honest, it’s a sturdy display of a lot of my pet obsessions: fears of parenthood, the disruption of politics and the schisming of humanity, food, food, food, social media as monster, our bodies betraying ourselves, food, grief as a catalyst for catharsis, kids say the darnedest things, breast pumps, and food.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I love writing short stories. It’s how I got started. My first book is a collection of short stories. Acquired Taste is my third. In some strange alternate reality, I’d be writing nothing but short stories… but apparently, that’s a tough road to hoe for a writer. The stories here are gathered from 2017 to, say, 2023, which is a solid cross section of stories. I can step back and look at a lot of these pieces and say to myself, Oh, man, look at what I was frightened of at that point in my life… It’s oddly calming, pleasant, even, to view them that way. My fears in the rear view mirror.
Oh… who am I kidding? I’ll always be afraid of these things. These fears will never go away.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
I have a pretty persistent inner-critic. Their voice is a bit all too encompassing when it comes to my writing. That voice never goes away. Still hasn’t. So—to say I’ve overcome this particular challenge isn’t the case. It’s still there. The crippling sense of self consciousness, of low self esteem, it’s all somehow baked into the writing itself. I don’t think it’ll ever go away. I’ve ‘learned to live with it’ in the sense that I just push through it most days. Others, I don’t. But I’m forced to face it every day I sit down to write.
What’s next for you?
Titan Books still hasn’t learned their lesson. Did you know they’re letting me write a novella for them? Bodies of Work may just end up being the weirdest, darkest thing I’ve written… Out in April 2026!
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?
I’ve read so many… but, my God, when I close my eyes, the one book that materializes is Old Soul by Susan Barker. It’s profoundly upsetting. Maybe one of the bleaker books I’ve read this year. It hurt me so much and I absolutely adored it. I can’t say enough about it. So confounding, so unforgiving.
As far as books I’m looking forward to reading… man oh man, maybe the new Catriona Ward? Can you imagine living in a world where there’s a new Cat Ward novel on its way? More, please! More!
Thanks so much for listening to me yammer… Such a pleasure, Nerd Daily!
