1) You’re marooned on a small island with one person and one item of your choice—who is that person and what item do you have?
It is so darn boring to say my husband, but frankly, he is an incredibly capable, amazingly resourceful and pragmatic person. He’d get off his duff and help us survive, and we never ever run out of things to talk about.
As for the item, it would either be a sonic screwdriver or a really deluxe swiss army knife. Always a good thing to have unless you are being prodded by TSA.
2) Which musical would you say best exemplifies your life – and which character in that musical are you?
I love musicals, but I am so not a character in one. I tend to organize people, but not myself. Make impassioned speeches, but be internally conflicted. It’s not a popular musical, but there’s a version of Emma I saw with my local theater company, and I am very afraid that I might just be Emma. I hope I have better matchmaking skills though. Secretly, I wish I was Elphaba. I love the color green and I would kill to fly (or hit those notes)!
3) Take these three words and give me a 100 word or less scenario using them: novel, model, and periodically
I opened my email today, which can be a prosaic endeavor to vanish spam or an painful skewering of my editorial hopes, but periodically can be quite the adventure. Today was my lucky day. The art department sent me a new cover for my latest novel. Would it me a boring, forgettable sigh, or a luscious inferno of manliness? I clicked. I blinked. I smiled. That is one HOT model and one beauteous arse! It really is my lucky day.
4) You’ve just been let loose in the world of fiction, with permission to do anyone you want. Who do you fuck first and why?
Oh dear…what a conundrum. There are any number of my own heroes, but that goes without saying. I’m afraid it would be most difficult to choose. There’s Phineas Fogg (of Around the World in Eighty Days), I do so like a competent man that I could corrupt thoroughly. There’s Nikola Tesla, the vampire version from the television show Sanctuary – brilliant, sexy and deadly – he sends shivers up my spine, the good kind. There’s Captain Frederick Wentworth from Persuasion, who excels at letter writing prowess, and constancy. I’m afraid Nikola Tesla wins out though – but I reserve the right to flirt outrageously with Jeeves from PG Wodehouse’s work, and at least squeeze Eric Northman’s arse and exchange a long, sultry kiss with Lord Maccon from Soulless. Goodness, I think I’m a literary slut.
5) What is your idea of how to spend romantic time with your significant other?
Time, pure and simple. Dinner is lovely, but a movie or a show doesn’t really let you talk and really appreciate each other. My favorite is a spa or bathhouse. No longer the raunchy hideout of 70s porn, there’s a spa bathhouse in a nearby town that lets you spend several hours in deliciously hot water with a cold plunge and a sauna, all in a little piece of tranquil heaven, for less than the price of two movie tickets and popcorn. A bath and time to talk and massage each other? That is true romance. Especially if you can sneak in a bottle of champaign.
6) When you start a new story, do you begin with a character, or a plot?
It really varies. Some stories have come to me out of a situation, and the characters grow from there. Seeds of Garnet started off as a futuristic telling of the Persephone myth, and the characters came afterwards and grew from that original idea. But with a story like Enchant the Dawn, it was the setting that came first. I was challenged to write a book in the 1920s in NYC, and before I knew it, Sophia my heroine was whispering naughty things in my ear and the plot came into being with her say so, so that was a collaboration between the perfect location and a plucky personality. Often for me, the setting and the character are very intertwined, as I think your environment does truly help shape who you are and how you face challenges.
7) If they were to make the story of your life into a movie, who should play you?
Oh dear…given the skinny scrawny nature of most actresses, casting is not an easy task at all. I’m contemplating some odd mix of Claire Danes, Eliza Dushku and Christina Ricci. But all of them are too short and too thin. They’ve got the necessary attitude though!
8) Who’s your favorite horror villain and why?
Does Lord Voldemort count? Because if not, he should. Simply marvelous. And very entertaining on Twitter.
9) Do you have an historical crush and if so, who is it?
Oh, there’s many. Nikola Tesla (the real one). Samuel Clemens, definitely. And I am still in awe of George Washington. It takes great strength to give up being a king. I’m
also very fond of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.
10) Is there a story that you’d like to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it?
I would love to write a romance involving a mother to a child with special needs. So often, caretakers are pushed into a role and allowed no life, no outside existence. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t still people, with needs and desires and passions. If I can find a way to do it that doesn’t sound too preachy, I will write it!
So, take a stab at answering one of Julie's Rick Reed Questions in a comment and you'll be entered to win a signed copy of "Some Like It Sweet"! Winners will be chosen after 9 PM PST.
Reed Questions". I loved answering them, and I dare you to answer some as well. Read this interview and post a comment with an answer to one of the Rick Reed Questions and you will be entered to win a print copy of the "Some Like It Sweet" Ellora's Cave Anthology!
Blurb from Nancy's Sweet Spelling Bee, my story in Some Like It Sweet:
5) What is your idea of how to spend romantic time with your significant other?
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