#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Leo X. Robertson

I’d like to welcome Leo X. Robertson to the blog today as my guest for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite summer traditions: staying up late and waking up early, thanks to the extra hours of sunlight in Norway.

Something summer-related that you’ll never do again: Staying in a cabin with friends—but I haven’t even done this, luckily I knew myself well enough before anyone even offered!

Best summer memory: Playing ping pong with my dad on our table in the back garden of our home in Glasgow. He was so competitive, so when I won and asked, “Are you just letting me win?” it would irritate him so much, because he really wasn’t.

Something you’d rather forget: The occasions with too many cocktails, but luckily those have forgotten themselves.

Best summer vacation ever: Marbella with my family in ‘95. Still chasing the high of being a kid allowed to stay up late and go swimming in the hotel pool.

Somewhere where you don’t ever want to return: Japan in the summer. Hard to appreciate what’s actually in this or that temple when you’re just thankful to be inside and the heat is no longer draining your life-force.

Favorite thing to do on a summer evening: Read about a page or two before it puts me to sleep. Every time! Why?!

Least favorite thing about summer: Wasps.

Favorite place to visit in Virginia: The Horrific Hope Film Festival in Winchester! For three years in a row we’ve had films premiere there, they’re big supporters of our work and we love them <3 Or the Urban Hang Suite café in Richmond—delicious croissant sandwiches.

Somewhere you’ve visited way too much. Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt: Nowhere in Virginia yet, I think it’s great. In fact, the tour guide we got for the Poe Museum spoke at 2x speed, I could have stayed there longer.

The thing you like most about being a writer: Spending months on a story only then to realize why you were writing it, because it shows you something about the world you were trying to articulate the whole time.

The thing you like least about being a writer: Nothing, honestly. No one’s making me do this.

Things you will run to the store for in the middle of the night: Milk for coffee, or mochi because we were bold enough to think we could survive with nothing sweet in the house.

Things you never put on your shopping list: Most fruits and vegetables, sorry. I don’t need to make a shrine of shame of them in my home, watching them rot, as I one day will, faster than otherwise necessary if I just consumed these no doubt nutritious gifts from nature before me.

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life: The people to whom it connected me.

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over: Had more confidence in my abilities, but there’s no way to gain this other than the passage of time.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Standup comedy, especially when I was no good at it at all. It’s not so scary now that I’m only bad at it.

Something you chickened out from doing: Talking to other filmmakers at film festivals. But not only are they all as introverted and afraid as I am, they have social media, so you can just say “Hey I liked your film” later 

The nicest thing a reader said to you: I don’t remember the specifics, but it’s usually a long confession about something personal, which tells me that they perceived the vulnerability in what I had written.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “I am so, so sorry for you, but I did not like anything about your book.” It wasn’t the same reader as the nicest one, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was. No matter what you do, you eventually hear everything from everyone!

About Leo:

Leo X. Robertson is a writer, filmmaker and process engineer, currently living in Stavanger, Norway. He has stories in issues 22 and 30 of Pulp Literature, amongst other places. His films have premiered at festivals such as Dead Northern and Horrific Hope, and won awards like "Best LGBTQ Film" and "Best International Feature Film." He enjoys failing at stand-up comedy and coding apps that invariably don't work. He is the author of Barhopping for Astronauts and his stories are featured in Pulp Literature magazine.

Let’s Be Social:

Find him on Instagram @leoxrobertson or check out his website: leoxrobertson.wordpress.com