That was nine years ago, so clearly, I am a failure to the 24-year-old version of myself. I hope he can forgive the 34-year-old version.
O. Ryan Hussain – 25 February 2018
The Back Flap
The Outlandish and the Ego is the first in a new genre of literature: political erotica. This wild and comical satire follows two parallel stories that ultimately converge and blend into a new American reality.
One side of The Outlandish and the Ego plays out with the Aide, who relentlessly seeks to maintain his power as he maneuvers his president for reelection. The Aide’s ruthless appetite for victory comes to life in the form of wife swapping, partnering with a corporation hungry for war, endless slandering, and so much more. But in order to win, the Aide must survive an evil secret society-the Brethren.
The other half of The Outlandish and the Ego finds Samuel and Roger: two wild derelicts who are running from demon gnomes that nobody else can see or understand. In order to satisfy the gnomes’ demands, Samuel and Roger must solve the riddle of “the signal.” The two twisting plotlines crash into each other as the fate of the Aide, Samuel, Roger, and the Brethren come to an unexpected and hilarious close.
About the book
What is the book about?
Since writing the book I’ve had to try and answer this question so many times and I’ve come to the conclusion that satires, particularly political, are difficult to describe without sounding like you were tossing paint on a wall. Imagine trying to explain the plot of Animal Farm to someone at the time of its release.
With that being said, the first line of The Outlandish and the Ego is “Welcome to the age of Political Erotica,” which truly sets the tone for what’s to come.
The Outlandish and the Ego is a comedy that is really about a few things—the absurdity of our political system, mental health, policing, and news and information being manipulated. It’s only through the wild mockery of those things that this book can claim to be comedic.
The book unfolds through two plot lines. One side of The Outlandish and the Ego plays out with the Aide, who relentlessly seeks to maintain his power as he maneuvers his president for reelection. The Aide’s ruthless appetite for victory comes to life in the form of wife swapping, partnering with a corporation hungry for war, endless slandering, and so much more. But in order to win, the Aide must survive an evil secret society: The Brethren.
The other half of The Outlandish and the Ego finds Samuel and Roger: two wild derelicts who are running from demon gnomes that nobody else can see or understand. In order to satisfy the gnomes’ demands, Samuel and Roger must solve the riddle of “the signal.” The two twisting plotlines crash into each other as the fate of the Aide, Samuel, Roger, and the Brethren come to an unexpected and hilarious close.
When did you start writing the book?
When I was 24 I had this silly goal to have my first book published before the age of thirty, and began to formulate the early structure of the book. That was nine years ago, so clearly, I am a failure to the 24-year-old version of myself. I hope he can forgive the 34-year-old version.
How long did it take you to write it?
Like an Adderall-induced psycho, I handwrote the first draft in just 8 months. And yes, I’m not kidding, I wrote the first draft by hand. Back then I felt that I could get into a rhythm easier when writing with a pen versus a keyboard. After that first draft I started to transcribe my handwritten version and edit at the same time, so by the time the book was typed out on a computer I essentially had the second draft. From there, we have a series of rewrites that spanned several years, and several long periods of time where I wasn’t touching the book.
The overall process of finishing this book was made harder because I wrote the first draft in the George W. Bush era, a few rewrites during the Obama era, and one last tweak during the Clinton/Trump election. Each rewrite or tweak was done to make sure the satirical nature of the plot stayed ahead of what was actually going on in our real world. All in all, it took a little over eight years to finish it and probably three to four years of actual work.
Where did you get the idea from?
The main character of the book, a guy by the name of Samuel, suffers from brain attacks at the hand of tiny gnomes. They absolutely wreak havoc in his cranium, and it results in massive amounts of nausea, fear, and crippling anxiety. That was the first idea I had for the book and it came to me when I was sitting in a waiting room during a doctor’s visit. It was crowded and suffered from noise pollution via children screaming, random teenagers talking on their cells and an intolerable episode of Dr. Phil playing on the communal TV. My own issues with anxiety started screwing with me, but somewhere in those moments it occurred to me that I could use that for a character.
The other elements of the book simply come from wanting to mock and satirize the country’s daily headlines. It became an outlet for me to vent, preventing me from having to venture over to the nearest café and turn myself into a coffee-sipping cliché.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
It wasn’t so much that there were parts of the book that were more difficult than others. I always knew how the story began, how it ended, and some of the high-water marks in-between. For me, the struggle came in the form of ensuring the satirical elements stayed up-to-date. American politics change faster than people realize, so if you’re intending to call to light certain elements of it through satire, you’d better be quick to do so. After this book, it’s very clear to me why authors choose to set their own political satires in dystopian or utopian futures rather than present times—it’s easier to forecast than reflect.
What came easily?
Since I had a decent idea of how the book needed to start and how it had to end, the journey toward that end came fairly easily. The best advice I could give to anybody who wants to write a novel is to simply build the environment in your head, chapter to chapter, and just play in it. Even though I knew the ending, so much wasn’t known as I wrote it. But I became addicted to navigating the world that I established and trying to expand it.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
A little bit of both. It’s hard not to borrow from real world people when writing something political in nature. And even with the side of the plot that features Samuel and Roger, there were elements of friends and family that I borrowed. Our experiences and knowledge of people are inescapable. I wasn’t going to fight that when I was writing.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
My life changed when I read Kerouac’s On the Road. Before that book I had never experienced a narrative that bent the rules of writing, cadence and pacing so far—and it opened my mind to a set of possibilities. It was like Morphius showing me how to manipulate the Matrix. After Kerouac, there was a series of 20th century authors that influenced how I write, think about writing and changed what I would set out to accomplish with my writing. Authors like William Burroughs, Jerzy Kosinksi, Charles Bukowski, Ken Kesey, Tom Wolfe and many more.
But nobody influenced me like Hunter S. Thompson. It’s easy to get caught up in the wild stories that Hunter would craft and leave you to figure out which parts were true and which parts weren’t, but there was something else I loved so much about him. He was able to capture so many different parts of his own personality within his technically sound, yet edgy writing voice. There was the Peter Pan/Huck Finn mischievous child quality to Hunter that you always knew was there, almost daring and threatening you simultaneously. But despite that, as I held his books in my hands, I always felt like I was in the presence of a true luminary that behaved like a rebel. He always resonated with me deeply.
Do you have a target reader?
I know I should have a better answer to this question but I really don’t. In some ways, writing a book with a target reader in mind feels like removing some of the artistic elements of authorship. I wanted to write a book as an expression of my view of the world, and if it meshed with readers and made them laugh, I was all for that. But I didn’t have a specific market or reader in mind.
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
In a word: consistency. For the type of person I am, I knew that the only way I’d be able to successfully complete my first novel was if I established some basic principles and rules for a more disciplined approach. Since I had decided to write the first draft by hand, I went out and bought a stack of Moleskin journals and decided that I needed to write a minimum of five pages a day, with the end goal of one chapter a week. I didn’t really set aside a specific time of day to write, but rather each day I’d re-read the chapter to that point and stew on it. And then when I knew how to continue I’d pull the journal out of my back pocket and let it rip.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
In the case of The Outlandish and the Ego, I didn’t outline anything through the first few drafts. I knew how the story began, and how it ended, and used the compass in my mind to navigate the story to that end. However, after a few drafts I knew I wanted to add chapters here and there, remove other chapters, and my sense of the complete story was beginning to be a challenge. I needed to see the whole story, chapter to chapter, in one place.
So, one day I went out and bought a large blank poster board drew out 30 equally sized squares on it, and wrote out the chapter name and brief descriptions of each chapter. This helped tremendously as I would realize that I needed more character context in certain portions of the book, often necessitating a new chapter or a redo of an existing one.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
When I get in the zone when writing there is nothing I hate more than stopping for anything, let alone for the task of editing—which I don’t like that much. I edited the book in iterations and it took quite a while as a result. If I were to do it over, I would edit at completion of each chapter.
Did you hire a professional editor?
I had the assistance of a tremendous editor that I love.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
Most of the time I write in quiet, but I do occasionally like music to help stimulate my journey into the writing zone. In the past, bands like Radiohead, the Massive Attack and the Glitch Mob have helped. But in general, I prefer electronic music like trip hop, glitch, and Goa trance.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
I did not submit to any agents. My heroes in the world of art have always been musicians, directors and writers who take their work directly to the audience. If an agent comes my way down the line I’ll have to re-evaluate, but I don’t see a need.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
One of my biggest influences are indie rock bands. Groups like the Pixies, Sonic Youth, Pedro the Lion and Elliot Smith, not to mention bands like Nirvana who started out with small labels, really paved the way for indie publishers and self-publishers to feel empowered enough to go about it this way. I really see no other way to go about it when factoring in the types of stories I intend on writing and who I am as an individual.
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
I found a really great designer online—can’t thank them enough for what is a truly awesome book cover.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
In my professional career, I’ve co-founded a communications consulting practice—so the marketing plan for something like this falls squarely and comfortably with me.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Be comfortable with who you are—and when it’s time to publish (indie or self), who you are will help guide you to the most appropriate process.
End of Interview:
For more from O. Ryan Hussain, like his Facebook page.
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