Awkward Two, a collection of 33 micro-short stories by 25 incredible writers, will be released to the public on September 27, 2010. (You can pre-order it right here.) Who are these incredible writers? Let’s meet ‘em! We sent the same 9 questions to all the writers. Here are their answers.

Wayne Scheer

The best thing about running a publishing company is meeting great people you probably wouldn’t run into otherwise. Wayne Scheer is one of those guys.

As you may know, we’re doing a little experiment with this issue of Awkward in which we’ve asked five filmmakers to shoot adaptations of stories from the book. Wayne Scheer’s Zen and the Art of House Painting is one of the stories being adapted. The shoot has been delayed a few times because these are the things that happen when your primary form of financing is favors. It’s now almost 100% certainly going to shoot next weekend. The cast is superb, the script is excellent, and I have full confidence that the talented director, Joel Maguen, is going to pull off a work of art. But in the meantime I’ve really put Wayne through the ringer with the delays, and he’s been a complete pro and mensch through the whole thing. A pro mensch, that’s Wayne Scheer in a nutshell.

The film is going to be great, but it couldn’t get there without a fantastic piece of source material. Wayne’s story is a real highlight of the issue … funny, moving, and quirky in all the right ways. It’s a story that could only have been written by a master craftsman. If you want to check out some of Wayne’s excellent work, you can download Revealing Moments, a collection of twenty-four very short stories, absolutely free of charge at http://pearnoir.com/thumbscrews.htm.

The Interview Portion

1) Who are you and why are you here?
I think of myself as the most married man in America, forty-three years, and I’m here instead of with my wife because Jeff asked me to answer these questions.

2) Why do you write?
To justify retiring early.

3) What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?
Whatever I’m working on at any given moment.

4) What do you do when you aren’t writing?
Sleep, eat, exercise, garden, make love. (But I do them as quickly as I can, so I can get back to the computer.)

5) Name two books that have blown your mind.
When I was teenager, The Catcher in the Rye, made me want to be a writer. More recently, Tom Robbins’ s, Jitterbug Perfume, reminded me I’ll never be that good, but I can have fun trying.

6) What do you like to write about?
Whatever comes to mind. I like silly and serious, sometimes in the same story.

7) Complete this sentence: If the world could know one thing about me, it’s that I …
only wear black socks so I don’t have to worry about matching them.

8) Are we doomed?
Of course. No one gets out of here alive. But that shouldn’t get you down.

9) Anything else?
I have a pet turtle, but I won’t tell you his name because he cherishes his privacy.

c) any links you would like me to post on the website.