"Stay Awake: Stories," by Dan Chaon

By: Jeff Glor
Topics: In The News

Jeff Glor talks to Dan Chaon about his new collection of short stories, "Stay Awake."

Jeff Glor: What inspired you to write the book?

Dan Chaon: The book combines two fascinations of mine. First, I love old-fashioned ghost stories, as practiced by writers such as Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Bowen, Shirley Jackson, Daphne DuMaurier, etc. Second, I find myself drawn to contemporary "weird" news, true crime and strange human behavior. I set out to combine these two elements in these stories.

JG: What surprised you the most during the writing process?

DC: These stories were written over a period of ten years, in-between times when I was working on my novels. When I sat down to put them together, I was surprised at how strangely interconnected they seemed. A lot of the same obsessions kept popping up. I thought: Wow, I've been circling around these things for a long time without even realizing it.

JG: What would you be doing if you weren't a writer?

DC: I spent some time working as a DJ in Chicago when I got out of school. I was really interested in audio production and remixing, so maybe I'd have pursued that. Who knows?

JG: What else are you reading right now?

DC: "Lint," a graphic novel by Chris Ware

"The Outlaw Album," short stories by Daniel Woodrell

"Salvage the Bones," a novel by Jessmyn Ward

JG: What's next for you?

DC: I'm finishing the screenplay for my novel "Await Your Reply," and working on a new novel.

MORE VIDEO:

Jeff Glor talks to Dan Chaon about the differences in writing for the screen versus short stories and novels.

Dan Chaon talks about how he's wanted to be a writer since he was five years old and how a letter from Ray Bradbury encouraged him in his craft.

For more on "Stay Awake," visit the Random House website.

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