Hello. [The Entrance]

Flora, upon deciding that she wanted to interview someone, and knowing that I could not come up with much to write here, decided to interview me for my introduction to this blog.

Flora says: So, Larry, please tell us some basics about yourself. You know, where you live, where you were born, how old you are, your interests, all that jazz.

Larry Griffin says: Okay, will do. I was born on February 2nd, 1991 in Florida, USA. I was the last person born on the busiest day of this brand new hospital - Arnold Palmer's, for whoever is in the area - and I was the first child ever to live in my current residence, which was basically an exclusively old folks' home. In my spare time, I write, exercise, read or watch movies. I also like long walks on the beach and romantic dinners by candlelight with a pretty lady.

Flora says: Okay so, why were you living in an old folks' home?

Larry Griffin says: Because that is where we lived, I guess.

Flora says: Well, I can just as easily say my family lived in a shit house when we came to Canada because that is where we lived, but it is because we were poor refugees that pretty much just came there. So, I'm sure there must be some reason why you ended up living in an old folks' home

Larry Griffin says: Well, really, there isn't one, aside from the fact that that's where my parents chose to live, perhaps for the fact that they just got a good deal, or that it is a safe place. As I've grown up, I've seen that there are barely any crimes here at all, and that it's easy to be able to walk freely in the streets without trouble. I think this might be a problem when I don't live here anymore.

Flora says: Why do you think there's so little crime where you lived? Also, you said you were the first child to ever live in your current residence. Do you have any brothers or sisters, or are you an only child?

Larry Griffin says: There is no crime here because it is a closed off gate community. I am the first child in my family. I do have a younger sister though.

Flora says: Okay, well you seem to like reviewing music a lot, and you seem to like music in general, a lot more than the average population. What is it about music that is so intriguing to you?

Larry Griffin says: I don't think I do so much, these days. I have been busier and more distracted with other things, as well as listening to some different stuff I haven't tried before. I review music because that's how I am, critical of mostly everything.

Flora says: Why do you find yourself to be "critical of mostly everything"? What aren't you so critical about?

Larry Griffin says: That's just how I am. I find that it lets me enjoy the good things in life more, if I can pick out what isn't so good.

Larry Griffin says: I'm not critical about...well, really, I don't know. I'm not too picky about movies a lot of the time, as is evidenced in my usually consistent ratings.

Flora says: Then what is your favourite movie, and why?

Larry Griffin says: Pulp Fiction, simply because it's very enjoyable and charming, if you will.

Flora says: Alrighty. Well, a writer always has his/her/whatever's starting point, and a good number of times, they regret their works made at this stage of their writing career. Do you have any regrets as a writer? Why?

Larry Griffin says: I don't think so, regrets as a writer...it strikes me as pretty stupid, frankly. Everyone has their starting points, and if you're ashamed of them or regret them, then it shows a good deal of insecurity on your part. Now, I'm not saying you have to like your past works so well, or that you can't be critical of them, but there's no need to be ashamed of them. Everyone has their building blocks.

Flora says: What are your "styles of writing"? And by styles of writing, I mean, for example... mine are politics, comedy, song-writing - lyrics and instrumentals, and stuff about the news.

Larry Griffin says: Interesting, interesting. I have dabbled in many genres as I've practiced writing, from superheroes to fantasy/action, to horror and mystery...but I only really got serious about it earlier this year, while writing a black comedy/satire called Around the Bend.

Since then, I have developed ideas for other stories along the same lines, mostly inspired by Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club and Lullaby, among others. I am attracted mainly to the weirdness and eccentricity of it, while the stories themselves remain serious when you get past the weirdness.

I am also quite inspired by humor/comedy writer Carl Hiaasen, who writes books about Florida and satirizes the odd culture of the place. Interesting reads.

I am also influenced by more "nerdy" things, although I have never cared about such terminology, like comic books or B horror films.

The one road block I have is the fact that I am pretty much devoid of any real cultural knowledge, having never traveled outside of my native Florida, and barely even anywhere in the state itself. This hinders me, but I get by.

Flora says: I feel dumb, I don't know of any of those people (I'm a Time Magazine and news type, FUCK BOOKS! )

Tell me about your black comedy, Around the Bend

Larry Griffin says: Haha, do not feel dumb, I don't know many of the "popular" authors myself. I just discover as I go at my own pace.

Larry Griffin says: Around the Bend is, as I imagine would be written on the book jacket, "a high-octane, sex-crazed romp through the black curtain of normalcy." It revolves around a fireman who is generally tired of his life. He is a failed writer, lacking any creativity to make a real story, and he likes to spend his time by himself, reading and keeping up with his taxes, in his large, three story home, in which he lives alone.

One day, he decides to run into a fire alone to try and save a young girl who is trapped inside.

He falls to the ground and loses consciousness, later awoken in a hospital, saved by a colorful, energetic pimp who runs a skin club on the edges of the city. He becomes friends with the pimp, and the story is a recount of the events that lead to his current position, sitting on Death Row, spiced up with doses of black humor and bloody action.

Flora says: That's pretty fucking good. Better than the stuff I've been coming up with lately... you should put your comedy on DeviantArt, they have a thing where you can save text.... but anyhow.. what are your biggest inspirations to write?

Larry Griffin says: On Deviant Art? I don't think so

My biggest inspirations? Reading books, that is the secret to it. Just reading fills me with creativity and ideas to write.

Flora says: What is your favourite book?

Larry Griffin says: I'd say The Stand by Stephen King, bit of an odd choice, but then again I never had the most amazing tastes.

I merely write for those like myself, not those looking for literary masterworks.

I suppose another inspiration of mine was Quentin Tarantino's movies, actually, because they are just cool, despite often messy and silly. They are representations of what the man wants to see on film, and my writing is the same in that respect, except for paper, you get the idea.

Flora says: Fuck, I don't know what else to ask. Well, looks like we're done! Welcome to the team.