Bestselling author David Wong (the pseudonym of Jason Pargin) is executive editor of the comedy site Cracked.com. A trademark blend of horror, comedy and existential pondering, Wong's What the Hell Did I Just Read: A Novel of Cosmic Horror (St. Martin's Press) is the third installment in his John Dies at the End series. Shelf Awareness recently spoke with the author about writing and what's up next.
When asked how, exactly, he landed on the fantastic mix of genres his work represents, Wong said, "I think this is one of those situations in which having no education in literature, or any friends in the industry, helped me. I never spent one second thinking about what genre I wanted to work in, or what kind of material was selling in that genre, or who were the current masters of it. I just wrote the type of stuff that entertained me, and in a way that would make me laugh. I have too short of an attention span to attempt anything else. My unprofessionalism kept it fresh!"
Addressing the rumor that What the Hell Did I Just Read might be the last installment in the series, Wong declared, "It will not be the last! There will be at least one more. I've never written a series that has run its course before, so I suspect that event will take me by surprise long after it's too late, and that it will be a major disaster in my life."
As for what's next for Wong? "The sequel to Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, then after that I'll come back to the John Dies series, assuming some life circumstance doesn't intervene. Then, at some point down the line, the sun will swallow the earth and all life will be eradicated."
