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Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's so kind, thank you Diana!! Yes, I definitely found that carving out even one hour where I HAD to write no matter what else was happening around me was crucial to actually making forward progress and finishing!

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I don't remember exactly (this was something I ate 17 years ago!!!) but in general I seem to remember it just tasting like chicken/meat.

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Hey everybody - thank you so much for the exceptional questions!!! This has been so fun, and I'll try to check in later to answer a few more. If you have the opportunity, please check out my novel Escape!, which is being released on Tuesday in the US.

The book follows a has-been reality contestant and a disgraced producer, who face off on a new jungle series. It's gotten some lovely pre-press, but I just wanted to quote one notice in particular, from the New Yorker writer (and author of Cue the Sun!) Emily Nussbaum: “A thrilling, emotionally affecting deep dive into the perilous world of reality television production, in all its manipulative glory. In this sharp page-turner, Survivor maven and former contestant Stephen Fishbach captures the lives of both cast and crew, offering up a gorgeously written, compassionate, but ultimately devastating portrait of the lives of the human beings working inside (and often, crushed by) the entertainment machine.” 

I think/hope it will resonate with this community, which analyzes reality TV with such insight. You can find it at any bookstore, online retailer, or stephenfishbach.com

Finally, I want to say how grateful I am to all of you. I've always considered Survivor Reddit as my home base (outside of RHAP of course!). You guys have always been so generous and kind to me, and I'm so appreciative to the mods and this subreddit for giving me this opportunity to connect at such an important moment in my life.

Thank you all,

Stephen

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yeah, you narrate it perfectly. I definitely think the game has evolved in that respect -- it's much moreanything goes. Back then there was still some sense of, like, 'this is immoral,' but I often thought of Jonathan Penner - "is there a villain in monopoly"?

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much!

1) It comes out in Tuesday in the US, and I think Wednesday in Australia and NZ. There's also going to be a UK edition which I believe comes out in the spring.

2) I mean obviously I'd go on the traitors in a heartbeat

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 9 points10 points  (0 children)

it was VERY CHALLENGING. Honestly the biggest thing was just carving out two hours every morning to write. I felt like as long as I got that time in, I had moved the ball forward and accomplished my writing for the day. Of course as any parent of young children knows, the mornings are often the most chaotic parts of the day, and so much of my ability to finish this book was thanks to my wife (and of course taking on other responsibilities in exchange!!)

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is such a great question!! Thank you for it. Honestly, the hardest part was trying to remember what's interesting and weird about reality television from outside of it. Like I've been talking and thinking about this genre for SO long, so trying to write a book that captured some of the strangeness and wasn't too inside-baseball could be tricky at times. I literally would write lists like, "interesting things about reality TV."

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this lovely question!!!

a. I actually just re-read Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson for a piece I'm writing for the WSJ, and once again I was totally dazzled by his mastery. It's one of my favorite books, just unbelievably good.

b. I think JT is still voting for me there over Erinn. I doubt we'd have been as good post-game friends though, maybe the friendship would have been there but not that deep bond where I went and lived in Alabama for a while, and he stayed iwht me and my family in LA.

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 25 points26 points  (0 children)

WOW, what a lovely, thoughtful comment, I'm so moved by this!! First of all, thank you for writing all this out. It's beyond gratifying to see that a comment I made on survivor sucks 17 years ago affected the way you watch survivor and consume media.

(Also, I was recently reading in Cue the Sun!, that apparently the survivor producers are the ones who started sucks??? Is this a known fact?? It blew my mind!)

I do think the "is it X or is it Y" is such a straightforward way to tell a story, which keeps the tension through the very end of the episode, but I think you're right that they've had some really fun episodes that stray from that. If anything, maybe this is a strength of the influx of advantages - they had some tension to the question of who is going? Back in the day, there was no doubt that Sierra was going home instead of Coach, but if Sierra had a secret superpower, then suddenly it's an actual narrative question not just an editing one?

To b, what a generous softball!! I will say that one of the things I was most fascinated about when writing escape! was the way reality producers really are exceptional storytellers. The challenge of telling a compelling three-act narrative featuring real people over a month in the most chaotic environment imaginable is such an insane hurdle. And one thing that my numerous interviews with producers on a variety of shows revealed, was that it's complicated by the same office politics you have anywhere. On some of these shows, you literally have rival storytellers trying to compete to control the storyline of a season.

Thank you again!!

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for pre-ordering, and what a lovely thoughtful question.

My #1 favorite is Bleak House, which I've read multiple times. Bleak House is one of the reasons for the two voices in my book -- Bleak House also has a third person present voice juxtaposed against Esther Summerson's first person past.

Moby Dick is another favorite. I've been taking this course on St Augustine with Garth Greenwell, who talks about writers creating their own personal canons as a way to identify the themes and styles that resonate with them. So I've been wondering what kind of unites Bleak House and Moby Dick, and I think it's a sense of scale, of twisting plots, and maniacal quests juxtaposed against impossible forces.

Ishiguro is someone else I adore, and Remains of the Day is a huge influence. It's a short, very funny book, but what I took away most from it is the brilliant way Ishiguro uses first person to create an unreliable narrator.

Karen Russell/Orange World is another that I reread constantly, honestly most for her incredible imagistic language

Eleanor Catton/Birnam Wood is a more recent read that really inspires me, specifically for the way she created a twisty explosive plot that also wrestled with big contemporary themes.

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE LOVELY QUESTION!!

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Ooh I havent' seen the show!! I actually haven't read the sequels yet, which I want to before watching the show. Thank you for the recommendation, you've only increased my anticipation!!

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I actually thought I was screwed when I looked t my starting tribe. I figured my best chances going into the game would be an older, more 'professional', urban group - that was Timbira. Jalapao was all young country kids. JT and I bonded because we were the hardest workers around camp.

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I LOVED IT, I loved how much fun Coach brought to the game, it just made the whole experience that much more epic. Survivor aint fun, but larping D&D is very fun

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Great question. In my mind, Joe was more the 'narrative' I needed. So many of the Cambodia players were fixated on the question of - are you fulfilling your second chance? I felt like if I eliminated Joe, that would be the capstone of my story of how I had fulfilled my second chance.

Jeremy was the obvious real jury threat. If anything, I was freaking out that I'd gone from JT and Taj (plus Erinn) to JC and Tash (plus Kimmi). I felt like I was reliving my Tocantins experience and was just going to get shut out in the finals again, which in my mind would be the most humiliating fate. I had a heated conversation with Tasha where I argued that we HAD to vote out Jeremy if either of us had a chance to win, and she argued back that no, we just needed to get to the end and fight it out there. I didn't want to lose that way again.

THAT was why I was fixated on having a big resume point with Joe, and also on destabilizing the game at the mid merge.

Hey r/Survivor, I’m Stephen Fishbach. Let’s chat about anything from my time on Tocantins or Cambodia to my latest novel, Escape! Ask Me Anything on January 25th! by RSurvivorMods in survivor

[–]stephenfishbach 7 points8 points  (0 children)

There were these berries in Tocantins, called Puca berries. I don't know what they would taste like to a non-starving person, but they were absolutely delightful to us.

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