Jimmy Doom - Interview series vol. 18 | #114
On his writing career, character building, choosing names and more
Hello, this is Celeste. I have been writing poems since 2017 and my low-fantasy crime novel Project Dylan since 2022. Letters for Creatives is the place where I share my thoughts on writing, creativity, resources for creatives, and interview creators and authors.
Jimmy Doom is an author and actor. He has won multiple awards for his acting. He was a 2022 Hour Detroit Magazine Nominee for Best Author. He has been posting his short stories on Substack, every day, which he has amassed over a thousand stories in the archive. Every story has his mark on it. His characters building is one of his competitive edge. He can manage to make you see the characters who they are, with the first paragraph. If you are one of my poetrygram friends and like Colin Tan’s work, make sure to check out Jimmy Doom’s work as well.
We talked about how he leaves his mark on his stories, character building, choosing character names and so much more.
Can you tell us about you and your work?
I started publishing daily fiction on Substack in August 2020. Acting work had dried up due to the pandemic and I wanted to challenge myself to see how many days in a row I could publish a short story.
Many of the friends who had followed my work on Medium and knew me from the Detroit acting, music and cultural scene were early subscribers and I didn't want to let them down.
There is a great deal of variety in my work, but I do love to tell stories of people on the fringes—the homeless, street musicians, addicts, criminals.
I grew up in Detroit and worked in the city much of my life in the bar and restaurant industry, as well as the nearly mandatory stint most Detroiters have in an auto plant. I prefer writing about people who have been overlooked or underappreciated to writing about slick spies or private detectives in Armani suits.
Street corners have better stories than boardrooms.
Addicts are just as marginalized as some of the marginalized communities that have been embraced in recent years.
Where can we find your work online and offline?
I have published two collections of my work, Humans, Being: A Story a Day for a Year and That Fountain Ain't Gonna Grant Your Wish.
The only place to read my fiction is on Jimmy Doom's Roulette Weal Substack.
You have been posting your stories on Substack daily. How can you manage to do that?
The daily writing has been an immense challenge, but also a ton of fun. There is a daredevil aspect to it: "Will he publish again today?"
Sometimes it has been daunting and there has been a sense of pressure, but that is mostly due to everyone's nemesis: The clock.
If all I had to do every day is write, it would be much easier. COVID took me out for five days in December 2021 but since then I am on a 859 day daily streak. Even when I have had 14-hour days on movie sets, my subscribers have gotten a story because they pay money and I don't want to let them down.
Do you submit your work to literary magazines and other places?
I do not submit to literary magazines. Here is my impression of literary magazines:
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