the studio is open!
the outlier №292
I’m Ben Mercer and welcome to The Outlier. This letter covers a lot of ground — taking in my move from pro rugby player to author and online man of letters — with reflections on books, interesting individuals, cross-cultural connections and the odd detour.
The Outlier Studio is open!
I had my first guest come for a chat this week. I spent the weekend stressing about whether I’d have the right gear, if it was going to be a waste of time and perhaps above all, whether it would be too hot. In the end my fans (not pictured) just about did the job.
And after all that, the first guest was Josh Silver, author of the soon to be big hit Fruit Fly.
Josh is in the middle of a book tour but made time to come by and chat for an hour or so. We’ve spoken online about his previous book Traumaland, one of his four Young Adult novels, and Fruit Fly is his first foray into adult fiction. It’s shaping up to be a big success.
When I started fitting out the studio, I was caught up in the idea that it needed to look like a studio, the ones you see on everyone’s podcast clips, but as Josh’s visit drew closer, I realised I don’t care what everyone else’s stuff looks like. The opposite even.
It’s the approach I had with Fringes’ book cover and it’s served me well ever since. My studio is white and filled with beautiful daylight. I realised I should embrace it.
In the spirit of looking different, we set up one main shot camera to capture both of us together as well as the sound, with my new phone trained on Josh individually and my old phone propped up on the bookcase to get an unusual slanted angle. Again, I want what I make to showcase its difference, to have a sensibility and to not look like everything else. I’ll need some help with an edit but it’ll be worth it.
There won’t be loads of these interviews but the ones I’ll do will be ones I want to do, not ones to fill a schedule. They will include books and authors but won’t be limited to them. They’ll broaden my world, not shrink it.
I’m hoping to publish the interview on here next week. I think you’ll like it.
literary driplord pt 6
Partly to commemorate a mention in Mr Porter I never realised happened and mostly because I’ve been meaning to for a while, I published a new Literary Driplord video featuring Hergés intrepid Belgian reporter Tintin.
I actually found that Tintin is a more varied winter dresser and usually sticks to his classic blue sweater over a white collared shirt, even when on a raft in the middle of the ocean, but I did find a few things and get to make some fun (and topical) comparisons. Check it out.
the work
Oddly enough the above endeavours are actually related to my work moving forward. I’m redoing my website to better reflect what I’m up to now but as I learn over and over again, it’s hard to predict what will drop in your inbox as a result of something you’ve said or done before. I’m better off maximising my surface area for luck and cracking the door for new possibilities than I am doing the same old things.
Now the studio works, alongside showcasing my interviewing abilities publicly, I think YouTube is perhaps in play. I certainly have enough stuff to say stashed away in my notes app and on my bookshelves. I’m feeling encouraged after I met up with a prospective route to a whizzy new agent and she didn’t realise any of my life prior to my TikTok account existed. Upon learning about it, she seemed far more impressed than she had been by my follower count and suggested perhaps I tell some of these old stories anew. It’s advice I should probably take.
This weekend is the boys book club second public Performative Read-In! Sign up here and get there early if you want to garner free Hoxton membership…
a book
Even if I’m not watching much Tour de France this year, I’m still getting my cycling fix from The Rider by Tim Krabbe. It’s a fun, characterful, slight journey inside the mind of a competitive cyclist during a race [ amazon / independents ]
a listen
Skip the opening 5 minutes of adverts and this quick podcast gives an interesting perspective on men and reading in the modern marketplace.
a quote
The others believed me wise because I won, but they didn’t know the many instances in which I have been foolish because I lost, and they didn’t know that a few seconds before winning I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t lose.
– from The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
lastly
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I’ll see you next time.