What intrigues you about the Spirit World?
I'd have to say that I like alternate explanations for things and the paranormal and the cryptid world has always interested me. I guess I like a world where more things are possible!
Are there any similarities between you and your characters?
I'd like to think they have my eyes ... :)
Seriously, the sense of humour is probably the greatest contribution from me to them. Other than that, we share a few experiences, but nothing major. I am not, for example, 6'7" or a stunningly beautiful 22 year old woman. Nor am I a soulless black pit-eyed monster who steals the bodies of the less fortunate ...
Who is your favorite author and what about their work draws you in?
That's a tough one. As a kid I loved John Wyndham and JRR Tolkein because they created magical worlds with fantastic possibilities. Later it was George MacDonald Fraser for his ability to spin a believable and entertaining tale that sounded like it might just have happened. Stephen King's capacity to keep me enthralled with his horrific sense of things also kept me entertained. I also enjoy biographies, but usually only of musicians. J.K. Rowling impresses the hell out of me with what she has accomplished and she writes a compelling story with characters who I now feel I know.
Who was the hardest character for you to write about?
The hardest character was probably Glencoe. I was never sure I really liked her :) Fastman was also a bit of a pill, but the story needed them both.
Tell us something fun about you?
I draw cartoons. It has become a bit of a trademark in my other life work and has landed me in trouble more than once!
Was it difficult determining how to bring the characters to the page?
This will make me sound certifiable, but not at all - they seem to just show up for me and then it's almost as if we hang out together and I wait to see what they'll do! I have frequently had my carefully planned plot lines get all twisted and knotted together because of the clever things they stumble on to. I seriously feel like I'm just along for the ride sometimes. Yes, officer, I'll come quietly ...
What is your favorite Quote?
One I made up. There may be no "I" in team, but there's no "U" either ...
Choose only one. If you could choose between invisibility or the ability to fly, which would you choose?
Flying, hands (or wings) down. I have had the flying dream, dammit and I would love that skill!
Are there any new projects in the works?
Ohhhh yes. I have two books of a trilogy finished (about 1200 pages so far) about a set of homicide detectives who find themselves sucked into a set of serial killings that turn into so much more ...
Then there's the Toby Thompson and Alexandra Lawson stories about two teens who find an ancient map that turns out to have peculiar powers of translocation - that one is going to spawn a whole pile of books (but only 8 chapters of the first so far), so I am always working on something.
What is the question that you wish interviewers would ask, and the answer to that question?
Q. Rob, I have a friend who wants to buy a copy of your book for every child in mainland China and the Indian sub continent, where can she get WiSpY?
A. Why on Amazon, of course - just follow the link! Amazon
That was what we call a cheap plug :)
Thank you so much for stopping by and chatting with me!
Thanks for having me on the blog. I seriously hope people enjoy WiSpY. Dam Good Books showed some faith in the story and I hope that people have as much fun dancing with my characters and their story as I did creating that dance in the first place.
Go Tolkien!!! He's not one of my favorite authors, but he is a GREAT author. Or was I should say.
ReplyDeleteI liked that quote about "I" and "u" in team- I never thought of that :D
Thanks!
Alyssa