See Alia Sunday, October 7, at Vesuvio for “Do You Come Here Often?”: Writers at the Bar, with Alan Black, Jack Boulware, Beth Lisick, Chuck Thompson, and Missy Robac.

1. What is your favorite book?

It must be As I Lay Dying, because I’ve reread it more than any other book. It’s got rage, comedy and transcendent beauty all happening at once. That economy slays me.

2. Who is your favorite writer?

Cormac McCarthy.

3. If the answers to 1 & 2 are different, why?

They’re similar. I obviously have a yen for dark, funny, poetic novels with horses.

4. How old were you when you were first published?

Around 28.

5. What writing style do you most abhor?

I adore being a woman. But “chick lit” embarrasses me. It makes me wish I had a penis.

6. What is your favorite writing cliché?

I like the cliché about writers being drunks. It gives me an excuse. Cheers!

7. What is your favorite word?

Succotash. Or motherfucker. I can’t decide.

8. When and how do you write?

I don’t have a set routine, but my self-esteem nosedives when I don’t make creative progress. Fear of self-loathing keeps me diligent.

9. What is your greatest fear when you first turn in a manuscript?

I fret endlessly that it isn’t as good as it might be—that if I wait a bit longer, I’ll get that last zap of inspiration that knits loose ends, or floats the piece to the next level. Consequently, I’ll tinker with manuscripts for years without sending them anywhere. Honestly, I wish I was more relaxed.

10. In what era do you wish you’d been born?

I’d love to arrive in the “gay nineties” so I could ripen in the “roaring twenties.” They sound magnificent in comparison with this most recent decade: the “gloomy oughts.”

11. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

I’m editing a novel right now, and I’ve discovered that I overuse “low-slung sky.” Go figure. I also cuss too much.

12. Which talent would you most like to have?

I want a talent for being in two places at once. One me can roam this astonishing planet, while the other me stays home to nest and write. Of course I’d end up getting jealous of myself, which could be problematic.

13. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

I’m still working on it.

14. Who is your favorite hero of fiction?

The Cheshire Cat: chaos in a fur coat.

15. How would you like to die?

I’d like to croak in my husband’s arms. My least favorite way to die would be away from him. Corny but true.

• 
  Alia Volz participates in a Litquake event called “PASSWORD: Litquake’s Literary Speakeasy,” in which Bay Area authors dress up as, and read from, Prohibition-era writers. Volz charakter is Louise Brooks. San Francisco, Cal. on Monday, July 16, 2012. Photo: Sonja Och, The Chronicle / SF

BY SETH AMOS

Alia Volz’s story, “Vacajun” appeared in Dark Sky’s Issue 11. Here Alia talks about stereotypes, insomnia, and her earliest memories of magical desserts.

Seth Amos: Your website says that you started writing during a long trek across the Iberian Peninsula, what was it about the journey that inspired you?

Alia Volz: The Camino de Santiago is a Catholic pilgrimage — which is odd because I’m not religious, and wasn’t raised Catholic. I stumbled onto it, so to speak. There’s a great deal of old power on that trail. It transforms everyone who sticks with it, though not necessarily in the ways you might imagine. That was a confusing process, and since I walked most of the 500-ish miles alone, I had to keep a journal, which I’d never done before. Writing made everything feel more vivid, which I loved. The smallest became significant. Plus, I’d always been a voracious reader, and if you consume enough words, they eventually start dribbling back out. So when I returned to the states a year later, I went straight into a Creative Writing program. I’ve been wrestling this beast ever since.

SA: Who are your biggest literary influences?

AV: I’m pretty disloyal. Maybe I will always be a Faulkner girl. Cormac McCarthy makes we want to smash my fingers with a sledgehammer, he’s so goddamn good. People like Carver and Goodis taught me dialogue, and Flannery taught me to be vicious. Then there’s Woolf, Bolaño, Díaz, Dickey, Ellison, Thompson (Hunter and Jim), Oakley Hall, yadda, yadda, yadda…

Honestly, my biggest influence is the book I have my nose in today. I’m a very receptive reader. So if I’m working with a particular genre, style or subject, I’ll look to a (local, independent) bookstore to ramp up my chops. Some writers worry about taint their output, but I’m thrilled to find shades of what I’m reading in my own work. It still comes out sounding like me. It’s hilarious: you can’t escape your own voice.

Read the full interview in Dark Sky Magazine