Behind the Words
I’m still discovering the wonders of OSC’s page. Here’s a stolen survey I thought said a bit more than the general run of blog surveys. It was called Behind the Words.
1. Name the book (or books) that made you say, “I want to do this, I want to write.”
Two people get the blame: Ayn Rand and Lois McMaster Bujold. Rand basically wrote her own scripture in novel form - telling a story powerful enough to reverse people’s political or moral opinions (at least while they’re reading it) is quite the apologia. I’d like to do that. LMB, on the other hand, is someone you want more of, even if you have to go and write it yourself.
2. Please name five books you would like to have with you if you were stranded on a desert island.
I’m going to cheat like OSC with the one-volume editions:
a bible, bilingual with commentary
an etymological dictionary to go with it
a one-volume Lord of the Rings
a big fat edition of Chaucer in the original
The Faerie Queen (which I would, therefore, finally read)
3. If you were a high school English teacher, what five books would you assign?
Lord of the Flies
The Swiss Family Robinson
Pride and Prejudice
1984
The White Mountains trilogy by John Christopher
4. Name three magazines that you read regularly.
Commentary, Analog, Scientific American
5. What CD’s get you in the mood to write?
The Buffy! The Musical soundtrack, ABBA, and any other cheesy 70’s music - it’s not just for filking anymore. But once I start writing, I don’t hear a thing. I can have the radio on for hours and I’ll have no idea whether India blew up Pakistan, because I blocked it all out.
6. What do you read for fun?
I’m not in school so I read what I enjoy or what I’m curious about - mainly sci-fi, science, fanfic, and Victorian literature.
7. How did you first get started writing?
I read way too much J/C fanfic in the course of a slow week at work, and the muse decided to roll her own. I tried to stop her, but she was determined.
8. How did you first get published?
It depends on what you mean. I got my nonfiction published by disagreeing with one of the editors of a newsletter I subscribed to. They published my essay, and later asked me to replace a retiring columnist. My fiction is pretty much unpublished, unless this website counts.
9. How often do you write?
I try to do that 1000-words-a-day thing, but it hasn’t been working for a while now. So I try to at least edit every day.
10. What are your three favorite forms of procrastination?
Blogging, emailing and watching Buffy.
11. Where do you write?
On the bed or in a chair with my laptop. It’s pretty bad for my posture, but that’s the price I pay for art.
12. Is writing an excruciating process for you or a cathartic one?
No, it’s just writing. When the muse does it all herself, that’s quite enjoyable to watch. When I have to edit the results, it’s not bad either. Sometimes it seems like it goes on forever, though.
13. What would you be doing if you couldn’t be a writer?
What I am doing, I suppose. I was considering farming at one point.
14. How do you know when you’ve written something good?
If reading it gives me that feeling that I get when I read something good by somebody else.
15. What other titles were you considering for your [work with the astoundingly bad title]?
I’m usually good with titles, but “Delta Quadrant Babes in the Mirror Mirror Universe” wasn’t one of my best. The trouble was it was supposed to be more slapstick when I slapped that title on it, and I never thought up a new one.
16. Is writing your day job? If not, what do you do to make a living?
I’m a webmaster, CGI programmer, database administrator, support phone person, linux sysadmin and network administrator, and none of those things are what I was actually hired to do.
17. What was the most unusual job you’ve ever held?
I worked for a company in California that made subdivisions. It was strange for me because in large chunks of New England, you buy a plot of land, get the phone and electric lines connected (and more recently, cable), and otherwise you’re on your own. If you want water, you dig a well, if you want sewage, you lay a leaching field, and if you want natural gas, you buy a tank of propane. The idea that a big company would go in and negotiate with the local government to be reimbursed for laying utilities for you and a hundred other houses at once was just odd.
18. Writers are known to have quirky personality traits. What are yours?
I’m a great believer in rational thought and logical argument. It’s a shame that’s considered a quirk rather than a requirement, but there it is.
19. Do you have pets? If yes, what are their names?
No pets, and you can’t paint the apartment. If you do paint the apartment, it must be white or off-white. Thus sayeth the lease.
20. Please name your five favorite movies.
The Sound of Music
Henry V
Dead Again
The Usual Suspects
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Date of Birth: the 60’s
Place of Birth: far, far away
Literary Awards: a few ASC awards, mainly
;Education: far too much
Current Home: Boston, Massachusetts
Influences: G. K. Chesterton