The Two Gay Geeks 🏳️🌈 have a chat with Zachry Wheeler, author of The Immortal Wake Series, the Max and The Multiverse Series, Max and the Multiverse Shorts, and Puki Horpocket Presents Series of which he has a new entry to chat about. A Phil Short. And if you are familiar with Phil, you are probably as excited as we are to hear about this. This was great conversation as always with Zachry, who we have dubbed the heir apparent to Douglas Adams. Have a listen and we hope you enjoy this as much as we did.
About Zachry Wheeler
The first thing I can say about my writing history is that I never intended to be a writer. I went to college to become an accountant, and I wish there was a punchline to follow that statement. I made it through half the curriculum before caving to boredom and switching to Computer Science (no offense to the ledger jockeys). Luckily, all of my classes counted as elective credit, so it wasn’t a giant waste of time. I remember sitting in class thinking, “If this what my life will be like, I might as well end it now.” Thank goodness I had the keen insight to switch to a more exciting career in, um … programming.
I graduated in the late ’90s. Yup, I left college with a computer degree right before Y2K. At the time, big-tech companies were handing out jobs to anyone who could spell “computer.” I also had the extreme foresight (blind-ass luck) to teach myself web development as it was gaining momentum. I oopsie-doodle back-flipped into a solid career.
That’s when my writing life began, but I didn’t know it at the time. Most people think that programming is just staring at code all day. And in a sense, it is. But, there are a lot of other tasks that go along with it, including a large bolus of technical writing. Think documentation, wikis, manuals, etc. At a baseline, most competent programmers are actually decent writers. They need a strong grasp of language in order to do their jobs. It takes a certain amount of editorial skill to translate blocks of machine code into meaningful user instruction. That’s why Technical Writing is its own career. The good ones are worth their weight in gold because they alleviate a lot of user confusion and training costs.
This is why I can say that I have been writing professionally for longer than I’ve been a writer. It took me a while to realize that coding was writing, which also gave me the tools to develop my own writing platforms. I have owned and operated several online ventures, everything from review sites to news outlets. I didn’t recognize it at the time, but I had crafted a bypass to the reputation grind. I had the next best thing: a killer web presence.
When I decided to write fiction, I already had the basic tools. I still needed to learn hooks, structure, provocation, etc. You know, the things that make books interesting as opposed to sleeping aids. The first draft of my debut novel Transient actually read pretty well as a thesis on vampire biology, but the story lacked pacing and plot. It sucked, in other words, which kind of defeated the purpose.
That’s when my writing career began to take shape. I started learning more and more about the craft. I read constantly and devoured every pro tip I could find. The most exciting moment came when I was reading a book and could actually critique it. “This writing sucks and this is why it sucks.” (I was reading my own book, but that’s beside the point.) I had gained the insight I needed to write decent fiction. I was by no means at a Douglas Adams level, but I finally had momentum and I’ve ridden it ever since.
That’s what writing is to me, a never-ending battle of brain-melting masochism. It’s a skill you never truly master, which I find endlessly appealing. I enjoy learning new things and writing offers a bottomless pit of improvement. My appetite shows no signs of abating, so I hope to continue this journey for many years to come. Few things are more rewarding than a happy reader, so I promise to keep writing if you keep reading.
Phil: A Maddening Chat with the Smartest Being in the Universe
A brilliance beyond belief.
A fool beyond measure.
This is the enigma that is Phil.
Out in the great black sea, there exists a creature with a fathomless intellect. Phil is widely presumed to be the smartest being in the universe. Interviewing him was a dream come true, albeit one with a nightmarish caveat. This brief exchange reveals, in the bluntest of terms, how intelligence rarely begets wisdom.
- As a special bonus, this short also includes the first chapter of Roy: The Most Chaotic Midlife Crisis in Cosmic History.
In our second segment, we chatted about nothing. We skipped right over it since we had no time. We also highlight recent articles posted to tggeeks.com in the past week. As always, we have our birthdays and the ever-popular feedback segment.
We welcome your feedback. Please, let us know what you think. Good or bad, we want to know, and you could receive a shout-out in the feedback segment. Again, thank you for listening; we appreciate you taking time out of your day to spend with us.
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Show Notes / Links:
- TG Geeks Episode 383
- LGBTQ Film Recap from Festival de Cannes 2022
- K. D. Edwards and Rainbow Crate Announce The Eidolon Hard Cover Edition
- Anything’s Possible Directed by Billy Porter on Prime Video July 22nd
- LEGO® Star Wars Summer Vacation on Disney+ August 5th
- White Bird: A Wonder Story from Lionsgate in Theaters October 14th
- Hamish Downie’s Playlist – June 2022
- Andrea’s Angle | The Phantom of the Open – Whimsical and Hopeful
- Andrea’s Angle | The Black Phone Calls it in with Ominous and Masterful Restraint
- Nerdy Chupacabras #105
- Hamish Downie’s News Sushi #126: Morsels of News From Japan and Beyond
We want to bring attention to a Public Service Announcement from the ’90s featuring Dr. Culber (Wilson Cruz) of Star Trek: Discovery
Beat the Bash – PSA from Mike Costanza on Vimeo.
This ’90s PSA (GLAAD, La Pietra Foundation, MTV) brings awareness to gay-bashing.
Starring Wilson Cruz, Meredith Scott Lynn, and Joseph Reitman. Writer/Director: Mike Costanza.
Director of Photography: Brad Rushing. Producer: Cara Coslow.
Thank You:
- The Arkle Times Post Dispatch News – Brian, the &-list YouTuberon Twitter @G33kOfAllTrades — Be sure to take a look at Arkle’s other venture: Arkle Studios presents Shameless Cash Grab
- Special thanks go the Facebook Group moderators of “Gay Geeks Afterhours” for encouraging us to share our content there, and there URL is www.facebook.com/groups/gaygeeksafterhours/.
- Here’s a special shout out to “The Gay Geek” for graciously allowing us to post our episodes in their Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/thegaygeek. And a special Thank You to Jeremiah Reeves, the moderator, for being such a great guy.
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