David Burr Gerrard, "Must Be Peopled"

It’s December 11. David Burr Gerrard, author of The Epiphany Machine, kindly requests that you un-tag him from that photo.

How would you describe your story?

DAVID BURR GERRARD: Everyone is annoyed by baby pictures on social media, and yet everyone posts baby pictures on social media. This story asks why we post pictures, and why we get so annoyed.

When did you write it, and how did the writing process compare to your other work?

DBG: I wrote it very quickly, in the earliest days of the Trump administration, when I was feeling hopeless about the state of the world and wondering why anyone would have a child. (About a year later, I had a child.)

What kind of research went into this story?

DBG: Years of seeing baby pictures on Facebook, I guess!

What, to you, makes the short story a special form? What can it do that other kinds of writing can’t?

DBG: A short story can clarify the contours of a problem. It can't solve the problem, but then, what can?

Where should people go to learn more about you and your work?

DBG: My website, www.davidburrgerrard.com. You can follow me on Twitter at @DBGerrard if you want to read a lot of dad jokes. And you can follow me on Instagram at @davidburrgerrard if you want to see the many pictures of my daughter I have shamelessly posted since writing this story.

What's the best gift you've ever been given?

DBG: The cheesiest, most annoying answer is also the true one: my daughter.

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What did you think of today's story? Use the hashtag #ssac2020 on Twitter and Instagram to check in with your fellow advent calendarians.