Chuck Tingle is not a household name. Yet, he has been featured in The New York Times, Huffington Post and The Washington Post, and he has an upcoming podcast with Nightvale Presents. The secret to his success? Bizarre gay erotica.
In his guide to romance, Dr. Chuck Tingle (who states on his website that he has a Ph.D from DeVry in holistic massage and is close to obtaining a black belt in Tae Kwon Do), states that there are four categories of romance: dinosaurs, Bigfoot, unicorns and living objects. These four categories are the pillars of his work.
The act of reading his short stories, however, reveals not only an initially jarring set up, but also an internal mythology and world. That world is one which is under threat from an encroaching void where Chuck Tingle’s next door neighbor is devil and agent and in which love is placed as the thing which will ultimately save us. In the following email-based interview with Chuck Tingle, whose typing style matches the erraticness of his writing, I hope you can see both the bizarre and the wonderful that permeate his work.
After reading your “Complete Guide to the Void,” I was struck by the extent of your knowledge on the subject. How did you come to acquire this information?
well as WORLDS GREATEST AUTHOR i have many important jobs one is to write books that prove love but other is to protect the neighborhood so when ted cobbler is over there plotting away like the dang snake he is i have to be ready and part of this means TRAVELING THROUGH TIMELINES this is various layers of the tingleverse this is something i have done for a long time ever since i was a young buckaroo. so as a traveler in this way i have good very deep into the layers of tingleverse and this is okay but they can get ABSTRACT sometimes and disorienting this is because there are infinite layers with every possibilty and some POSSIBILTIES ARE VERY STRANGE. but still they have one rule and that is that love is real so most of them are pretty nice like one where our feet are hands and one where our hands are eyes and one where our eyes are butts. but REAL PROBLEM is space between layers this is a point where the VOID BEGINS because tingleverse is a tower and the void is everything outside of this tower so it is on the sides and in between in very small slivers. I have no spent much time there but as a traveler i have had to pass through this dangerous place and this has drawn attention from various COSMIC HORRORS also my neighbor is a devilman.
What’s a subject you hope to write a story about in the future? Why?
The best story to write would be Pounded In The Butt By Peace And Harmony Between All Buckaroos On Earth As We Come Together As One And Explore Outer Reaches Of Galaxy. i could probably write this now but it would be better if it was based on current events like everyone said we have fast spaceships now and ELONS MUGG wants us all to start talking to aliens that are handsome so that would be a good way. this would be nice because then there would be less fighting on this timeline and also because i would like to meet a handsome alien and take him to the park and we could take about our lives and what we want to accomplish and then as we learn eachothers minds we could learn eachothers bodies maybe horsing around a bit in the dark (in a normal way just two buds trotting together) so that is my way.
Do you have any upcoming works you’re excited about?
yes i have exciting new podcast coming out with help of NIGHTVALE buckaroos they talk about a scary town on another timeline so now we will talk about BILLINGS ON THIS TIMELINE this podcast is called POUNDED IN THE BUTT BY MY OWN PODCAST they are helping me with it and showing how to be a radioman big timer and i am very excited to show the world LOVE IS REAL not just in books but in a talking way between buds. then when buckaroos are doing their morning jog they can LISTEN UP and laugh and cry and hug and learn about my way as a unique man name of chuck but ALSO their own way.
What sparked your interest in dinosaurs?
well i have always like these important BAD BOYS even when i was younger i would write stories about them and hide them under the floor BEFORE THE BIG FIRE but then when they got burned i thought ‘well maybe you shouldnt write these stories anymore chuck maybe they will just keep getting burned the heck up’ so i did not write for a long time until i moved to billings then son jon said ‘its okay to write’ and then after that he said ITS OKAY TO PUBLISH THESE BOOKS ONLINE MAYBE SOMEONE WILL LIKE THEM then i thought okay this will prove love and so i put them online with help from jons online bud SAM RAND who helps with publishing ways and internet updates (one time i thought he worked at dang starbucks down the street but that was another man named sam turns out i was wrong and he did not know me very well and i thought we were buds it was a sad day but i am fine now now i understand that sam rand lives far away on the internet) so anyway then i published my tinglers and everyone said HEY BUDDY THESE ARE DANG GOOD YOU DESERVE AN AWARD and then i was made worlds greatest author
Are there any authors who have inspired your writing? If so, who?
yes top authors of INSPIRING CHUCK are name of STEVENS KING and R L STIME they are top dogs in writing world and have written over ten books. top books from stevens king are JACKS BACK: MY DAD IN THE MAZE and ALIENS AT MY DOOR: STOP ALL THAT KNOCKING or BAD DOG and also many other hits R L STIME has best book about a mask and one about a dummy who is handsome.
Do you feel that being an author plays an important role in discussions on economics and politics, and do you, as an author, feel obligated to comment upon social issues?
well mostly i just write about nearby timelines and because they are close it can sometimes feel like i am being a commenting man, and that is okay, but that is not the only way to read tinglers sometimes you just wanna relax with your bud and get hard as rocks in a normal way just two buds hanging out reading books together. so there are so many ways to prove love with writing AND READING and i think it is important to respect all ways. but also when i write a current events tingler i like to say ‘these are my thoughts on this important way maybe now you will think about it in this way too’ that is great part about art is that we can send a message between buds that cant be said sometimes somtimes you just have to EXPIRENCE it to understand fully thats just trotting a playful mile in another buckaroos shoes.
On reading your story “There’s a Bitcoin in my Butt,” I was impressed by your economic insight. Do you really think that Bitcoins are the future? Why?
well as a world’s greatest author i have traveled through timelines into the future but it is important for me not to comment on this way because that could alter this timeline and even though we are altering it all the time to prove love in our own way this would be too big of a change to reveal bitcoins fate. but that is important tingler to mention because if you would have bought that tingler when it came out it would be worth a whole dang HOUSE NOW so i would say invest in tinglers it’s a safe bet if you’d like to get hard and maybe even become rich and trot around down wearing a big coat made of all the best rocks from anound the neighborhoodWhat are your thoughts on the ever expanding marketplace for erotica? Are you worried that it will become oversaturated?
there will always be market for buds who want to LEARN THEIR OWN BODY maybe even learn together with someone else that is great way to get tingled too this is because top ten thing to do when you are hard is to think on your preferred pound. so no matter how many books there are i think there will always be more people that is just the way of the world getting bigger.
Do you have any advice for writers who want to use their work to create love in this dark cultural moment?
yes i would say that it is so important to WRITE WITH LOVE beside this will ring true in all timelines. love is real and it is important to remember that because if you do not write with love someone might read and think oh this is pretty good but it will not resonate with their way. then they will put the good down but they will not tell their buds they will just move on to the next part of their life. problem then is that some buckaroos say ‘how the heck can i prove love is real im just a small potato in a big universe’. sounds scary at first but when you think about it the bigger the universe is the more UNIQUE AND SPECIAL YOU ARE which means that nobody can do what you can do! so your way of proving love is infinitely important there was almost NO DANG CHANCE of it being here on this timeline in the moment but LOOK AT THAT HERE IT IS. so it is so important to appreciate that and use that in your thoughts as a buckaroo.
What developments have you seen in your writing?
i think i am a better writer now so jon has to edit my words less and he is thankful for that. other developement is that i am two time hugo award nominee so now everyone knows i am dog top thanks.
