Samantha Irby, WOW, NO THAK YOU: Essays

[2:15]Zibby Owens: Hi. I'm Zippy Owens, and you're listening to moms don't have time to read books. This thirty minute podcast features a new author interviewed by me every single day, 365 a year for about thirty minutes. I am also the publisher for Zippy Books, which publishes 12 books a year in fiction and memoir. Our books are already out now. You can check it out on zippybooks.com. And we have a magazine called Zippy Mag where we have lots of wonderful essays and lifestyle features. That's at zippymag.com. We have classes at zippyclasses.com. And I recently opened a bookstore in LA called Zippy's Bookshop at 1113 Montana Avenue at 11th Street in Santa Monica. I hope that you are able to enjoy some of our other offerings. But this here podcast is the basis of all of it and started in 2018. And no matter what I do, this is basically my favorite thing. Enjoy. Today's rerelease is with Samantha Irby. If you have not read her essays, you have to stop what you're doing and just go read some of her essays. She is so funny. I laugh out loud, and you'll hear me laughing as I talk to her about it. But I am just a huge fan, and I wanted to make sure you had all heard this episode. Enjoy. Okay. This conversation with Samantha Irby might be one of my favorite podcasts. The two of us basically laughed the entire time we talked, and I barely asked her a question. It was more just a conversation and was so funny, and I, like, walked around my house laughing for ten minutes afterwards. So hopefully you will too. Samantha Irby is an American comedian, author, and vlogger. She runs the blog Bitches Gotta Eat where she posts about her personal life and events. She co hosted the Lit live show Guts and Glory in Chicago until 2015. She is the author of many best selling books, including Meaty, which we'll hear more about at the end of this episode, New Year, Same Trash, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, Wow, No Thank You, which is her latest book. I hope you laugh as much as I did listening to this episode. We could all really use a laugh, certainly me right about now. So this came at a particularly great time. Enjoy the episode. Hi. Hi. How are you? Good. How are you doing? I'm good. Thank you so much for doing this interview. I'm so excited to talk to you. Oh, it is my pleasure. I'm excited to talk to you.

[4:43]Samantha Irby: I just got up.

[4:45]Zibby Owens: Amazing.

[4:46]Samantha Irby: The best I'm gonna be today. So you get to you get to get all the good parts of me.

[4:53]Zibby Owens: Well, now I feel like I know about your, like, waking rituals and whether or not you're going up and downstairs and your belongings and all the stuff. So I feel like I'm in your morning with you. Yes. You are experiencing it. I forgot though to, like, put all my stuff in a bag

[5:10]Samantha Irby: to take it up last night, so it's still all downstairs.

[5:13]Zibby Owens: So the ritual's a little off. I do the same thing, by the way. I have my little tote bag, and I have, like, four books in it at a time. And I'm like, I'm just gonna take this with me wherever I go because you never know. So I need it. You know? It's true. My wallet, some masks, some books, gums. I don't know. A lip gloss. What else Oh, do you

[5:34]Samantha Irby: I have to have like six lip balms Mhmm. At all times. Like, I don't care about like hand lotion. You know how some people are like, I gotta moisturize my hands. I can't do that because then you just get grease all over, like, all your books and your other shit. But lip balms, I have to have, like, seven of them

[5:53]Zibby Owens: on me at all times. That's smart. So I got a case of lip glosses that are basically eight shades of the exact same color as it gets. So there's like the tiniest gradations of pink. And I'm like, whatever. They all look the same. I can't tell them apart. So I have them like in every little like pencil holder. And

[6:13]Samantha Irby: then I have, like, a bunch just scattered in the bag. So you never know. I bet. You know, like, people, like, act like we're nuts for being like this, but honestly, we're just prepared. I think we're efficient. Yeah. I'm prepared for very specific instances of boredom and lip dryness.

[6:32]Zibby Owens: Totally. You never know when either of those things will hit perhaps simultaneously. Yes. Yeah. So that's good. So I'm glad I caught you in the morning and now we can we can go from there. So your latest book, Wow, No, Thank You. I laughed out loud. I so needed a good laugh as I think everybody in the world needs right now. This is like was the funniest thing I've read in so long. So thank you for that. Oh my thank you for saying that. It's a weird I mean, you know, we we live in hell. It's a weird

[7:04]Samantha Irby: time to be putting out a book, but I was like, you know, at least people will laugh at it. But it's also like, I didn't get to tour, so I didn't get, like, response from a lot of people. I've just done these things where, like, someone on a Zoom is like it made me laugh. And that has been so, like, helpful to me. Because, like, you when you don't get feedback, it's like, oh god.

[7:33]Zibby Owens: Yeah. Is this thing? It's like being a comedian on stage with, like, a totally silent audience, and you're like, was that funny? I thought it was funny. Did anybody else think it was funny? Yes. So anytime someone's like, listen.

[7:45]Samantha Irby: I was on the toilet laughing so hard I prolapse my rectum. I'm like, well, thank you for telling me because I need to hear that.

[7:55]Zibby Owens: I can't say that, but I will say that I laughed on the couch and in bed and walking around as I do while I read and all the rest. So if I find any other prolapse victims, I will send them your way and tell them to excuse me. Please do. Oh my gosh. But the best part about your humor is you're just mostly not all the time, but so many things you're talking about are things just we all do every day and have to deal with, whether it's like confronting these people on Instagram who have these perfect lives and are drinking perfect drinks and have these perfect skincare routines, but I'm like, oh my gosh, I forgot to shave my legs for the last like two weeks. And then like, you know, the the not wanting to get out of bed to do anything at night when, like, suddenly I am, like, you know, comatose by 10:00. All these funny just, like, life things that you shine the light on are just so awesome. Thank you.

[8:50]Samantha Irby: I feel like so people, like, will always ask, like, how can you be so open with your terrible inner monologue? Because my inner monologue is always, like, everything I'm doing wrong and getting wrong and saying wrong and looking wrong. And I'm like, I have to say it because I have to believe that there's someone else who feels the exact same way because like, you know when people are like, you know, I'm really good at stuff. I'm just like, man, I'm not. So I gotta speak to other people who are bad at stuff and get stuff wrong because like that feeling of seeing each other is like, that's how we all are gonna survive. It's just knowing that there's someone else who, like, vomited in the middle of dinner and couldn't get up in time. Like, knowing that there's at least one other person who's, like, making these mistakes, like,

[9:44]Zibby Owens: makes you feel better. Yes. Especially, you know, anyone with Crohn's disease should just, like, put this by their bed and, you know, they the doctors should hand this out with diagnoses.

[9:55]Samantha Irby: You can laugh. You can you can make light of your bowel problems, and it's okay. Yes. Yeah. That's my I mean, I don't have any goals, but if I did have a goal, one of them would be to just have people talking about their poop all the time in regular conversation. We're gonna get there. Maybe not in my lifetime, but society is gonna evolve to that point. The great thing is nobody else is really fighting for that, so you can easily get your own platform and make a dent on on it. You know? Have a real impact. I could be a pioneer. Thank you. Yes. Yeah. You can have A hundred years from now, they're gonna be like, you know, we never talked about the consistency of our stools at parties Yes. Until Samantha Bee forced us to. Yes. Let's reduce the the poop stigma.

[10:44]Zibby Owens: Thank you. You know, forget about mental illness and all these other things. Let's just, you know, clear this one up and we can.

[10:52]Samantha Irby: Yes.

[10:53]Zibby Owens: Well, just wanted to read a couple passages that like particularly made me laugh, which it seems awkward to read back to you that No. I love it so much. You're like in the shower, but I'm just gonna do it anyway. In the shower, I use a big block of Irish Spring. And because I am black, I was raised to always use a washcloth no matter what, so I do. I also scrub my scalp vigorously with anti dandruff shampoo, which is a thing beautiful people never have to use. Just once, I wanna read one of these profiles where a slender shiny tooth model is like, hey, bitch, I have psoriasis while aggressively slathering tea gel under her roots. Oh my gosh, that just totally made me laugh. And then this other one about peeing, you said well, this whole paragraph is funny, then I'll stop reading. We live up the street from a middle school, and children are already on their way home for fuck's sake, so I don't feel bad having six diet coats in a row. This is when you wake up. I'll finish my water, but like, I don't ever wanna be too hydrated. All these magazines tell you how you should really be drinking your weight in water every day, and all these movie stars would have you believe their skin glows because of that water bottle they're carrying around, and I believe them. But also, why doesn't anyone ever talk about how much peeing you will have to do? I no longer have a pelvic floor, Jennifer Aniston. I cannot just be gulping down smart water with reckless abandon. Oh my god. You're so funny.

[12:06]Samantha Irby: Thank you. I know. Also, that is true. Every, like, health thing you're supposed to do, like, everyone, like, talks about the benefits or whatever, but, like, no one ever addresses the downside. You like, do you know what my day would be like if I just ate, like, raw kale and beans all day while, like, pouring gallons of water down my throat? I would have to move into the bathroom. I just I just want I will buy the lie because, like, I need to buy the lie. And we all do. Right? Like, we wanna believe that there's a better way. But I just wanna hear the side effects too. I just wanna know that, like, drinking this tea will make me beautiful, but also is a diuretic. Like, just tell me that part too.

[12:58]Zibby Owens: Especially because you cannot use any bathrooms outside of your house anymore. Yeah. Like, where I am, like, you know, that's it. Like, you can't no stores will let you in. No restaurants will let you in. The public restrooms are closed. So like, what are you supposed to do if you have to run a few errands a half an hour away and you've had like, you know, a smoothie that's some like, you're like that's like made of, you know, dates and, you know, filtered water and whatever, Coke. I don't even know. Like, what am I supposed to do? Not have the smoothie or whatever? I stay home? No more smoothies?

[13:31]Samantha Irby: No, that's true. And smoothies are a big one too because they love to tell you how many nutrients you're getting and how you can get all your servings of vegetables for the day in this, like, beautiful green smoothie that's, like, in an overexposed picture on a marble countertop, but then no one says the extra bit about, you know what all this raw spinach is gonna do to you. Right? They just don't tell you. And now, like, you truly can't go anywhere to use the bathroom. I don't know if people are wearing diapers. Or

[14:09]Zibby Owens: Yeah. How's everyone else doing? I literally thought about, like I shouldn't even say it out loud. I was literally like, I had to go I had to go, like, pretty far away. And I was like, should I stock my car with some baggies? Like, how am I gonna pick up my daughter, drive her to this other thing she has to do so far away? Like, what can I put in the car? Like, do I need a portable something? Like, what should I you know, the the smoothie bottle is not gonna do it, you know?

[14:34]Samantha Irby: Yeah. I I honestly don't know what people are doing. That's another thing people should be talking about. Like, you drove out to the coast or whatever. Cool. I would love to see your pictures of the sand and the water, but I also wanna know where did you pee during the drive. Yeah. What did what did you do?

[14:59]Zibby Owens: Yeah. It's like a complete mystery. Unspoken

[15:02]Samantha Irby: problems of the pandemic. You know? Every time okay. From now on and I'll report back. Every time I see someone post, like a we did a road trip picture, I'm gonna comment, tell me how you went to the bathroom. Every time I see someone who's not in their backyard, I'm gonna be like, this is beautiful. Where did you pee? Perfect. And then I'm gonna collect the evidence and bring it to you. And PS, everybody on Instagram is suddenly, like, on vacation.

[15:32]Zibby Owens: Everybody I, like, miss the memo that this is the week we're all supposed to, like, find the nearest lake and, you know, grab a canoe and and row our hearts out. I mean, I don't know. Everybody's somewhere right now. I know. I have seen

[15:44]Samantha Irby: so much of it, and I I try and be judgmental. I mean, mostly because I don't care what anyone does as long as they don't bother me or talk to me. But there is that part of me that's like, you know, I've been in my my dining room since March. Where are you? And why do you feel safe there? And who are you breathing on? And we're gonna be locked up forever because you couldn't just, like, be inside.

[16:12]Zibby Owens: I know. I'm like, am I overreacting here? Do you know what I mean? Like, I have been in my house here, which, you know, is I feel very fortunate. I'm very lucky. I love my house. But I have slept here every night since March 12, which is the longest I've basically been anywhere in a long time. Like since, I don't know, since my parents got divorced when I was 14 when I started like moving houses. Like I've never been so stationary ever. And I don't begrudge anybody, but I'm just like, everybody is in Montana and, you know Yeah. Know. But okay. I don't know. I don't I don't feel safe moving anywhere, but I'm probably do just I. If I had to get on a plane,

[16:48]Samantha Irby: I would have, like, an emotional breakdown if someone was like, there's I just wouldn't do the thing. There just is no what am I gonna wear? A gas mask and a hazmat suit? Like I know I would catch it. Like I don't have good luck right? So I'm like I know I'm gonna catch it And then all you hear on the news is how like black people get it and die immediately. So I'm like, I'm gonna get it, and then I'm immediately gonna die. And I haven't like cussed out all the people who need cussing out yet. And it's like, I can't there's no circumstance under which I would like fly right now. Guess I don't know. But like, again, I love that other people feel confident. I don't know where this confidence comes from, and I hope they remain lucky. But yeah, my feed is all like, look at us in a meadow. And I'm like, a meadow? You live on the South Side Of Chicago. Where did you go? Yeah. So

[17:53]Zibby Owens: yeah. Crazy times. It's insane. Today's episode is sponsored by Quince. Summer always makes me rethink what I'm reaching for every day. Lighter fabrics, better materials, pieces that just feel good the moment you put them on and look effortless. That's why I keep coming back to quints. They focus on high quality essentials. Think breathable linen, soft organic cotton, washable silk, but without the luxury markup. It's that rare balance where everything feels elevated but still easy. Quince has beautiful everyday pieces like 100% European linen pants, dresses, and tops with styles starting at $32. Their denim is soft and easy to wear. I wear my jean jacket all the time. And their organic cotton sweaters are perfect for layering on cool summer nights. Everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. Quince works directly ethical factories and cuts out the middlemen, so you're paying for quality, not brand markup. And it's not just clothing. Quince has really become a destination for elevated essentials across home, kitchen, bedding, and beyond, making it easy to bring a more premium feel into everyday life. In addition to my jean jacket, I recently got a white tank top dress with a beautiful cotton skirt that is absolutely gorgeous, and I can't wait for it to be warm enough so I can wear it every day, but it has been a cool spring. Elevate your summer wardrobe. Go to quince.com/zippy for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty five day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's quince.com/zippy for free shipping and three hundred and sixty five day returns. Quince.com/zippy.

[21:12]Zibby Owens: You also wrote so in such a funny way about writing. I love, like, self referential sort of meta ness in different books. But you said about your writing, you said and I'm sorry to only quote from the beginning. I have things all throughout not to make you think I only read like a chapter. But anyway Please. That you were thinking that. But anyway, I'll just put everything in my head out into this podcast. You say my work. I occasionally write jokes on the Internet for free because I am the last person on earth who still has a blog. Sometimes I have freelance projects, but there's nothing right now. No one is gonna pay me to write another book about nothing for at least the next two years. Unfortunately, I don't have anything new or exciting to say online and absolutely zero paying scams. So my heart sinks as it dawns on me that I have gotten up and gotten dressed just to read what other people are saying on Twitter. This is the glamorous life of a writer.

[21:58]Samantha Irby: I I mean, clearly, I read a lot of, like, profile. I love I mean, I would spend and I read one about you. I love to see what people do and their schedule and their whole thing. I love that. I love, like, seeing productive people, and I really love when writers are like, yes. I get up. I have a dedicated forty minute reading time, and then I move to this other chair, and I do two hours of writing. I'm like, in what world? When people are putting on, like, real clothes and shoes to, like, sit down and dedicate time to their writing, I truly stare at the wall for ten hours a day, and then I'm like, Oh, do I have a deadline? And then I cram everything in, and then I don't do anything for the next two weeks. People all believe that like it's and again, I'm very I'm only critical because I'm extremely jealous. People believe that everyone has I did this interview, and the woman afterward asked me to send her a picture of my writing space. So then I just sent her a picture of my lap because that's where I put the computer. I was like, this is where the tumors are gonna be from the laptop. My lashes every day. And she was, like, disappointed that I didn't have, like, a beautiful space with flowers. And I was like, I don't know what right like, I don't know, like, what Ryder told you, like, led you to believe this fantasy life, but most of us are disgusting in our pajamas, like, riding on the couch and eating.

[23:46]Zibby Owens: That's Now that would have been a good time to bring in the poop stigma issue as well. You could have shown the toilet in the writing space. You know, you missed an opportunity there. I think next time, you know, things Yes. Consider.

[23:59]Samantha Irby: Yes. You know, introduce yourself. I'm like, you could just come to my house and basically any room with a chair in it has been a place where I have written something. And I have a desk, but it's covered with nail polishes. Oh my god. And this thing I bought off Instagram that's like a leg massager, but I didn't realize how big and clunky it was gonna be. And then my wife was like, get that out of here. So now it's just on my desk.

[24:28]Zibby Owens: Oh my gosh. There's no glamour over here at all. And yet you're producing like best selling books all the time. This is just your way. Yeah. Yes. I want people to believe

[24:41]Samantha Irby: because it's true that you can like be a garbage person who doesn't have a dedicated writing space and write a book that people will like. Yeah. So then what's the secret? Just saying what's the secret? Because you're really good. Well, I mean, you have to have deep unrelenting anxiety and mental illness, tragic comic childhood, and be willing just to say whatever to make people laugh. And then you just have to have a comfortable chair to sit in, then like type it type on your computer. That's it. That's it. People

[25:19]Zibby Owens: with tragic comic childhoods are jumping up and down right now. They're ready to get started.

[25:26]Samantha Irby: It's true. I do, like, a lot of, like, hey. Drop in on my writing class kinda thing. And so many people are just waiting for the perfect waiting to get the perfect typewriter, the perfect cute office space. And I'm like, it's never gonna happen. Get that out of your mind just right wherever. If the toilet is where it has to be, then just right there. Yeah. I mean, I would like to disabuse everyone of the notion that you have to, you know, be good or smart or have all your shit together to write.

[26:05]Zibby Owens: You are ridiculously smart, and you are good. I don't know about having your shit together. That's for you to It's not. It's not.

[26:13]Samantha Irby: That was two truths and a lie or two lies or something.

[26:18]Zibby Owens: Tell me more about being a stepmom because you say I jump away from children the way most people jump back from a hot stove, which is not usually the best way to go into Steph Farrinut, but that's okay. What has that been like for you, especially recently with all this stuff going on? Well, I would say so about that quote

[26:38]Samantha Irby: specifically, I have I think like, I joke that my childhood was bad, but, like, it was really bad. And so I think as an adult, one of the resentments that I have about my childhood is like, my mom was 40 when I was born, and it's like, girl, you could have helped me out. Right? So my biggest fear with being around the child is that something I would say or do to them would resonate for the rest of their lives. And, like, thirty years from now, they'll they'll be like, you know what? Sam really messed me up and then, like, hate me and write about me in their books or whatever. So I always, like, kinda tread lightly around children because I'm like, oh, what horrible example am I setting? So step parenting, my approach is very, you have a mom and a dad. They're gonna, like, decide the vaccine schedule and, like, whether or not you eat gluten. Like, they're gonna decide all those things and guide your education. I'll show you some cool stuff. Like, if you wanna watch a David Fincher movie or whatever, I'll sit and watch it with you, and, like, I'll buy you stuff. But please do not ask me for any life advice you can trace back to me in the future when you inevitably fail. I just don't wanna be responsible for any of the mistakes. Alright. So so, like, you know how, like, step parents will come in and, like, have to show their authority or, I don't do any of that. I mean, for a while, I don't even think the kids, like, knew what my last name was. I was, like, so kinda, like, guarded with them. I just I have no I don't think there's anything that I know that would, like, help guide these kids better than anything their parents are telling them. So I'm just, like, the fun one. Like, we do fun stuff, watch movies, you know. Their mom isn't really into technology, so I'm the one who's like, here's an iPad for Christmas. Like, I I wanna guarantee that when I'm old, they'll, like, take care of me and think about all the stuff I did for them and not think about how like they hated all of my weird rules.

[29:20]Zibby Owens: So it's just like a kind of bribery relationship at this point. Yes. Yes. Which is fine. Yeah.

[29:27]Samantha Irby: I wouldn't do that if they like, if they were my own children like, if I had children I mean, my dad was in the military. We had rules like you can't whistle in the house, like, all kinds of, like, nonsense. I am afraid I'd be that kind of parent where I'd be like, oh, you're awake and not scrubbing something? Not in my house. So it's good that I don't have my own kids, but with other people's kids, I'm like, oh, a pile of money? Sure. Take take it. Will you love me if I give it to you? Great. Here you go.

[29:59]Zibby Owens: Although I feel like sometimes people who have like really strict parents or people who have had childhoods where a lot of things happen that they haven't been happy with end up being completely opposite types of parents from the examples. It's just the ability to sort of say I'm like not to model, but to go the opposite direction. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think if you look back and you're like, oh man, I really hated my dad. I don't want to be like my dad.

[30:25]Samantha Irby: But I, you know, I never, I think I never wanted my own children. I mean, one, because my body just, like, start falling apart early enough that I was like, grow a child in here? Absolutely not. Like, can you imagine what kind of gremlin I would give birth to, like, all these diseases and problems? Like, no. I wouldn't do that to to a kid. So I never, like, had that urge or desire, like, ever. I never thought, like, I wanna be someone's mom, but I do enjoy like, when my friends started having babies, I do enjoy dipping in, giving the kid the noisy toy that they love.

[31:07]Zibby Owens: Oh, no. Yeah. Well Now you have gone on, like, another list of people. In my mind, I can't even with people who give noisy gifts. No.

[31:19]Samantha Irby: I try to give, like, the good gift. I I always loved when my friends had parents because they or friends had kids or became parents because then they would get super responsible and you could go to their house and they'd always have good food and stuff. I have benefited from other people being parents, but I never I was like, this is no. It's too much work and stress and responsibility. I know myself better than that. I can barely keep these cats alive. Like, I can't a human, when there was school, I would, like, sit at the table with them while they're doing their homework. And, like, I was just like, am I illiterate? I don't understand anything you guys are talking about. How do you know how to do this? And they look at me like, I think we have a mom. Our neighbors are math professors. And I was like, you better go over there. I don't know how to do I don't even know how to add anymore. I just am like, fractions? No.

[32:27]Zibby Owens: So as the stepmom, you get to be like, I don't understand fractions and then just walk away, which is perfect for me. That's nice. Although I have to say it's not fair because they kind of changed the whole math system on us. Like, what's that about? New math. I don't know. I don't know what was wrong with the old math, but now I can't help my daughter eat in the you know, I'm like, whatever. You're on your own. And I'm like, I'll teach it to you my way. This is how you'll understand it better. And she's like, no. Like, that's not the way they taught us. What are you doing? It's so confusing. And I'm like, enough. That's it. I did long division, like, by hand Yep. In some of these kids, and they looked at me like I was from, you know,

[33:04]Samantha Irby: the sixteenth century. They were just like, what what is that? What are you doing? And I was like, dividing. And they're like, no. They looked at me like, oh, you poor thing. You think that's math. And I'm like,

[33:18]Zibby Owens: get out of here.

[33:20]Samantha Irby: I know what I'm doing.

[33:22]Zibby Owens: So funny. Oh my gosh. So what new stuff can I look forward to getting from you? What are you gonna write? What are you working on in your little deadline times? What what's next? Do have another book coming?

[33:35]Samantha Irby: So because of the nature of what I do, it's always like there could be another book because I just write about, you know, the dumb stuff I think about. So my agent was on vacation and, like, last week, and he another person on vacation. Right, everybody. On vacation and I was like, let's talk about another book and so we're gonna talk about it. But it'll, you know, it'll be more of the same kind of thing. Good. Being mentally ill and overthinking everything. You know the stuff I always do? I had two cool jobs that I don't know how things are gonna pan out because of the pandemic. I wrote on a couple of TV shows. One is Work in Progress, which is on Showtime. And then I was writing on Tuca and Birdie, which will be on Adult Swim now. So with TV production, I don't know when those are gonna get made, but eventually they'll be out in the future. And I don't think I've told anyone this, so you're getting the scoop. A million years ago wrote a pilot for my own Joe based on my first book, Meaty. And we were at FX, and then we ended up at Comedy Central, and then things were just taking forever. But we did get a pilot order, And so sometime when we're all vaccinated and can be in the open, we're gonna shoot a pilot. Whether or not anyone will ever see it, I don't know. But we are gonna shoot a pilot, and then hopefully they'll let me make the show. And let me tell you, it's just twenty five straight minutes of, like, poop and vomit jokes. So Great. We're into that. So, yeah, I have a lot you know, I always have, like, a few things happening that I never have any details on. I'm like, I did this thing and eventually maybe you can see it. So, yeah. I mean, I'll do another book in a couple years. I can't wait. Maybe I'll write about how to do new math.

[35:45]Zibby Owens: Perfect. How to do a podcast interview.

[35:49]Samantha Irby: This one's great. Your setup is very beautiful. Thank you. It I mean, this was great. Thank you. Do you have any parting advice to aspiring authors? Last question. Oh, yes. This is one thing like I am good and certain about. One, write all the time. And like, I know it feels like passe or whatever, but like start a blog or a newsletter or something that just gets you writing all the time, but don't put any pressure on yourself. And my biggest piece of advice is to understand that your writing is not gonna pay you right out the gate. Maybe you're brilliant. I mean, of course you are. But maybe you're brilliant enough to like get a million dollars on your first book that you ever write. I blogged on the internet for ten years and no one gave me money for anything, and I had to like work at an animal hospital. It just doesn't happen really that way for anyone that you just, like, blow up right out of the gate. So I would say don't be afraid to work in obscurity

[37:01]Zibby Owens: for a long time until you make it, but keep writing all the time. I love it. Alright. Well, I'm gonna take my little tote bag, and I'm gonna head in the other room.

[37:13]Samantha Irby: And you're gonna get all your belongings together and go on with your day, and I'll think of you as I shuffle back and forth. Please do. Zippy, this was so great. Thank you for having me. You are a delight. You too. That makes me sound a thousand years old. I wanna be like, bitch, you're cool as hell, but I don't know if like that That was much better. I would do that. That. I'm gonna make I might make that an Instagram post. That's true. You're cool as hell. Thank you. You're welcome. You too. Have a good day. You too. Bye. Thanks

[37:49]Zibby Owens: for listening to this episode of Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram at Zibby Owens and at moms don't have time to read books. Also sign up for my newsletter at zibbyowens.com and sign up for my virtual book club and meet lots of authors on Zoom every other week. Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan at Texture Sound for the sound editing, and thank you to Morning Moon Productions for providing this fantastic intro and outro music.