GROUP CHAT Episode One

Welcome to the CHAT

Greetings, Grey Fiction readers! You’ve heard the buzz, you’ve met the cast, and now the wait is over: welcome to the first episode of GROUP CHAT, the premiere online text-based reality TV series!

What happens when eight writers from across the world, none of whom have met before, join together in one digital space to monitor and dissect the entire literary Internet—and they do it all in public? Over the course of this season, GROUP CHAT will answer this question and many more.

As of this writing, the cast has been chatting for exactly one week. In these early days, personalities and relationships are still emerging, but their initial expressions will set the tone for the weeks to come. Let’s take a look at what’s been going on in the CHAT at this exciting and formative time.

First, some classic icebreakers help the cast counteract the caginess of the first few days:

Although a couple of the guys are a little confused about what Jasmine does for a living:

Momentum picks up during some back-and-forth about book design and the best way to mic a reading:

The real conversation starter, however, is the recent Vulture profile of Joyce Carol Oates, with whom Van is apparently acquainted:

Predictably, pretty much everyone has something to say about Joyce:

In fact, James’ takes on Joyce inspire Van to double down on what may or may not be the first legitimate rivalry of the series:

The question of when to publish and how is a familiar one for some, like Isabel, a committed self-publisher whose main contribution to the chat seems to be sharing links to her own work:

Not everyone is sold on the merits of self-publishing, though:

Feelings like this turn out to be an ongoing struggle for James:

Luckily, James makes at least one request the cast is well equipped to satisfy:

Here’s Ross on Ben Lerner:

Van on AI-adopter lit:

And Nick on Sean Thor Conroe:

Nick actually has several takes to offer. Here he is on Whoa Vicky:

And again on Ross Barkan:

Barkan comes up when the cast discovers that he may or may not have a mole in the group chat:

This revelation is one of just a few that hints at more to come. For the moment, the atmosphere in the chat is lively, but friendly. The only sources of tension so far are the lingering questions on all of our minds: Will James and Van keep their heads? How exactly does Van know JCO? And just what is Ross Barkan up to, exactly? The answers to these questions are all still to come, so make sure you tune in for another episode of GROUP CHAT next week, right here on Grey Fiction. For now—back to the CHAT!

GROUP CHAT is a production of Grey Fiction Media. All episodes are written, directed, edited, and produced by Stephen Piccarella. All original music by Sebastian Castillo.