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1. What book did you hide from your parents
when you were a kid/teen, and why?
A: I don’t remember hiding a book,
but I do remember hiding how I felt about one. When I was 14, I read and
re-read my older brother’s copy of The Lord of the Rings, much to my
mother’s dismay. For some reason the book unsettled her, maybe because after
reading it my brother longed to leave home and live in Middle Earth. So when I read
LOTR I longed more quietly than my brother, but understood (thanks to him) that
we all yearn for Rivendell once we’ve been there.
2. What is your favourite line from a
book -- any book?
A: Well this is an impossible choice. So I’ll go back to my first book-love,
and pick a line from Charlotte’s Web: “It is not often that someone
comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.”
3. Are you a clean desk person or a
cluttered desk person?
A: My desk is relatively clean and tidy: right now it holds a few choice pens,
a pencil, my glasses case, a few bookmarks, my cell phone top right corner, my
laptop and monitor. My office though is a cluttered, busy place filled
with boxes, guitars, sheet music, computers, paper, books, and art.
4. What worry wakes you up at night?
A: If I’m sleepless or discontented,
it’s usually because I’m worried about what we’re doing to the planet. My
children are adults now, but what will it be like for their children? For the
young readers of my books? My newest book, Oculum Echo, is all about
climate change and survival after environmental collapse. If you’re wondering if
it helps to write about what scares me, the answer is yes: I get to structure
the narrative and re-write the ending.
5. What is one of your secret ambitions?
A: I’ve played guitar since I was 12 and have composed and recorded music ever
since. I play casually with friends and sometimes at special events if someone
asks, but my secret unfulfilled ambition is that I’ve always wanted to be in a
band with maybe a violin, a piano, a bass player, and me. It’s just never
happened.
