Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Conversation starts at 12:00
Matt Ruff (https://bymattruff.com) rejoins the show to celebrate his fantastic new book, THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS: A Return To Lovecraft Country (Harper, bookshop.org/a/4669/9780063256897). We talk about his reason for doing a sequel to his best-known novel, Lovecraft Country (bookshop.org/a/4669/9780063061798), why he'd love to continue the story for a few more books, and what it means to carry on his characters' stories. We also get into the experience of seeing Lovecraft Country adapted into an HBO series (hbo.com/lovecraft-country) and how its departure from his book thrilled him, the importance of not letting the present influence his writing of the past (and whether the George Floyd protests influenced his writing of his African-American protagonists this time around), and the many ways he could have died while visiting the Great Dismal Swamp to research (bymattruff.com/2021/11/19/my-great-dismal-adventure/) for this book. Plus, we discuss screenwriting, the different structure this novel has from its previous one, why the quiet moments of conversation are the most important in the book, whether it's unfair that it takes him 3-4 years to write a book that takes me 3-4 hours to read/devour, and more. Follow Matt on Twitter (twitter.com/bymattruff) and go listen to our conversations from 2017 (chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-229-matt-ruff) and 2020 (chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-369-matt-ruff) • More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-527-matt-ruff • Support The Virtual Memories Show via patreon.com/vmspod or Paypal and via our Substack, vmspod.substack.com
Conversation starts at 12:00
Matt Ruff (https://bymattruff.com) rejoins the show to celebrate his fantastic new book, THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS: A Return To Lovecraft Country (Harper, bookshop.org/a/4669/9780063256897). We talk about his reason for doing a sequel to his best-known novel, Lovecraft Country (bookshop.org/a/4669/9780063061798), why he'd love to continue the story for a few more books, and what it means to carry on his characters' stories. We also get into the experience of seeing Lovecraft Country adapted into an HBO series (hbo.com/lovecraft-country) and how its departure from his book thrilled him, the importance of not letting the present influence his writing of the past (and whether the George Floyd protests influenced his writing of his African-American protagonists this time around), and the many ways he could have died while visiting the Great Dismal Swamp to research (bymattruff.com/2021/11/19/my-great-dismal-adventure/) for this book. Plus, we discuss screenwriting, the different structure this novel has from its previous one, why the quiet moments of conversation are the most important in the book, whether it's unfair that it takes him 3-4 years to write a book that takes me 3-4 hours to read/devour, and more. Follow Matt on Twitter (twitter.com/bymattruff) and go listen to our conversations from 2017 (chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-229-matt-ruff) and 2020 (chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-369-matt-ruff) • More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-527-matt-ruff • Support The Virtual Memories Show via patreon.com/vmspod or Paypal and via our Substack, vmspod.substack.com
