Creative Drinking With Rolli

A little while ago I was lucky enough to be guest editor over at the utterly brilliant Smokelong. And, while in the position I found, and published, a proper brilliant story, ‘The Man With The Ridiculously Huge Coupon’ by a man called Rolli (you can read it here).

Fast forward to now and Rolli has just published a collection of short stories and flash fictions, ‘God’s Autobio‘. So I asked him to get himself over here to talk a little.
And here he is. Talking about beverages. Enjoy!

 

 

 The Creative Drinking Club

Green tea. Coffee. Really strong green tea. Even stronger coffee.
Beverages. When it comes to creativity, people don’t often think of beverages. Or they think only of the usual – vodka, tequila, you know, a little of the poet’s pick-me-up. I’ve never found liquor any help, though. One drink, and I’m yawning. Two, and I’m sliding under the table, curling up among chewing gum and shoelaces, and purring to asleep.
I can’t ever get a good thing going, it seems, without loads of tea and coffee. As a case in point, virtually all the stories in my new collection, God’s Autobio, were written “under the influence.” “The Splendid New Crack” – a story a man who’s (ahem) gifted with a second rectum by an apathetic angel – came about after drinking quintuple-strength green tea, and becoming slightly giddy. I indistinctly remember laughing till I slid off my chair. On the other hand, “Chimpanions,” which lovingly details the friendship between an elderly spinster and a frenzied robotic chimp, was the product of an espresso/coffee decoction I call Zeus Juice – because you’re really on top of Olympus, when you drink it.
Mocha was the father of “The Man With the Ridiculously Huge Coupon.” Gyokuro produced “The End of Everything.” While plain no-nonsense black tea begat my personal favourite, the novelette “I Am a Butler,” about a masochistic manservant.
I could go on. But have the good sense not to.
If you haven’t joined the Creative Drinking Club yet, you really ought to. It’s easy. Cheap. Reasonably safe. So yeah, why not try it? You’d be surprised.

 

Published by

nikperring

Nik Perring is a short story writer, author, teacher of writing, and editor from the UK. His stories have been published widely all over the world. His books include the widely celebrated Not So Perfect (Roastbooks 2010), A Book of Beautiful Words; and Beautiful Trees; and he co-wrote Freaks!(TFP/HarperCollins, 2012).

4 thoughts on “Creative Drinking With Rolli”

  1. I’m with you, buddy. If I drink alcohol and write, my sofa usually seduces me away from the keyboard. Sometimes that can be fine, but not on a regular basis. Plus, I’m a lightweight, one glass of wine and it’s…zzzzzzzz. My drug of choice is coffee. I like strong cold coffee with half and half and Truvia. I keep a pitcher of it in the fridge and have a teacup off and on during the day. Typically two cups in the morning, one around 3:30/4:00 and then one or two at night. I find it keeps the cerebral matter happy. Cheers!

    1. What I like Sid is strong coffee with half-and-half and xylitol, or wood sugar. Tastes great, plus it’s fun to say xylitol.

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