X-R-A-Y SPECS: The Catechism Cataclysm (2011)
And isn’t a catechism a religious text that takes the form of questions and answers? Is our conversation a catechism? Or just a cataclysm? Ha.
Rebecca Gransden lives on an island. She is published at X-R-A-Y, Burning House Press, Expat Press, Bruiser, BULL, and Ligeia, among others. A new edition of the novella Figures Crossing the Field Towards the Group is released May 2025 at Tangerine Press.
And isn’t a catechism a religious text that takes the form of questions and answers? Is our conversation a catechism? Or just a cataclysm? Ha.
As a writer I think it’s helped me to guess which questions an author might really want to get asked. So many podcasts solely focus on the writing. As a writer, I know that can be exhausting.
It’s infuriating to watch my peer group become less intelligent and more certain as time winds on. It’s supposed to go the other way. The more reality you experience, the less certain you should be.
Isn’t that what every artist wants? To do the thing in the way they want to do it and have everyone they care about want that for them, too?
A shocked reaction to this work really just makes my point about why I wrote this novel. It’s all so obvious, and I’m bored to death.
You wouldn’t go back in time, but you would stay forever in the present moment. At least that’s how the dream went.
Christina was the John Swartzwelder and Kurt Vonnegut of this book – all of the funniest scenes and lines with the best comedic timing are hers.
This film is a Freudian’s dream. The way Cheryl constantly offers him milk isn’t exactly subtle.
At its essence, this story is about existential amnesia. What do we need to remember? What do we want to remember? And what’s the difference between them?
In retrospect, it’s obvious to me that I’m writing about my desire to feel a part of something greater than myself. I know that’s an impossibility, however.