For Spring 2015, I interviewed David Nilsen, who penned our only short fiction for this issue. His story, “Bascura’s Book,” is a fun piece that made me laugh out loud in disbelief when I got to the end. I am a huge fan of anthropomorphism, and this story hits the spot. (That’s all I’ll say — check out the issue to discover more!)
Why do you write?
The simplest answer is I write because it’s a thing I’m reasonably good at and I enjoy it. I feel most fully alive as myself when I have written something I’m pleased with. The deeper answer is that I have a need to be known. I want people to read something I’ve written and have a button pushed and feel a kinship there. Most of what I write is more autobiographical than Bascura’s Book, and there’s usually a lot of my own story what I publish.
What weird writing habits do you have?
I tend to write pretty quickly. Bascura’s Book, for example, took about an hour start to finish.
Tell us about your inspiration for “Bascura’s Book.”
I’d been planning to send something to NEAT. but didn’t have a story in mind. When I saw NEAT.’s latest theme was Cabaret and the inspirations were roaring twenties jazz stuff, I knew I wanted to set the story in a movie palace from that era. The opening paragraph came to me immediately, and from there I worked out the details and the book I was going to work with, and wrote it from there.
How do you take your whiskey?
Neat, of course. I drink any liquor neat, though very rarely I’ll drop in a cold whiskey stone or two.
Where can we find more of your work?
I link everything from my personal site at www.davidnilsenwriter.com. My next published piece will be on Pithead Chapel next month. I’m also the book reviewer for Fourth & Sycamore: www.fourthandsycamore.com.
NEAT. 
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