Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Interview with J.R. Wagner





Recently I had the great fortune to spend some time with author J.R. Wagner. We were on bikes and I figured this would be a good time to get that interview I needed for the virtual book tour he is putting on right now. Is putting on the right term? Oh well, it doesn’t matter because by the 5 mile mark I couldn’t breathe let alone ask questions and when we hit 16 miles, pulling back into his driveway (which is a freaking hill), I had forgotten all about the interview. This led me to send the 10 questions in an email. The following is what arose from that email; the answers are in red and my after interjections (in other words, as I type this right now) are in blue.
1.       You have been interviewed several times by other blogs, all of the literary questions have been answered. So this interview will go in different directions, any problems with that?
Depends on the questions   I got approval from the boss for the rest of the interview, so phhhlpt.
2.       Boxers or briefs?
I don't think making my readers nauseous by prompting them to think about what kind of underwear I typically don is a good marketing technique.  Agreed, but I am a product of the ‘80’s and that was the big question back then.
3.       Okay, we have that one out of the way, let’s borrow an idea from Barbra: If you were a Lego piece, which piece would you be? (classic pieces only please.) Why?
I like your obscure reference to someone most likely zero readers will relate to.  Well done!  I suppose I'll humor you with an answer on this one.  I'm the long skinny piece that usually connects two other groups of pieces together -the bridge. The gray one in the second to last row in the attached picture.   Ahhh, but if you were to be sitting at home during the day instead of working to support your family (yes, new authors must hold jobs), you would know that Barbra Walters has a very popular day-time talk show called The View. 
And yes, good choice!

4.       I have heard that you didn’t care for episodes 1 through 3 of the Star Wars franchise. Is that because you are stuck in the past and just can’t accept change?
I appreciate change when it's a good thing.  Episodes 1-3 were an abomination and an insult to Star Wars fans all over the world.         Moving on….
5.       Fuzzy Side Up, Volume II tells of a flying bed. What was your favorite destination?
Unfortunately, my crappy memory can't recall a particular destination.  It was fun just to sit back with my mom, dad and brother and imagine the bed lifting off the ground and slowly rising above the house.  The visualization my dad provided of the house fading away was always right in line with my own.   And your Dad wrote that the destination didn’t matter, it was the closeness of family that mattered, as it does today for you. Your memory isn’t crappy, it’s dead on.
6.       Aren’t you going to tell us all about Fuzzy Side Up? Sheesh, I led you right to it…
Fuzzy Side Up is a collection of my Father's life stories. All true.  Most funny.  His memoirs more or less. One day, they will be properly formatted and released for public consumption.    Formatting is a matter of personal choice, The anecdotes are wonderful!
7.       What weekend this summer/fall are you available to climb several of the state high-points in New England?
You'd better ask my wife that one. But, if I were climbing said high-points, I imagine I'd be climbing them alone unless they allow wheelchairs or walkers up the mountains...do they? You might as well tack a marathon on there too -equally likely to be bested by my one-legged brick-laying friend. What's his name again?   Delaware and New Jersey are on paved roads, the other 3 I picked are less than 5 mile hikes…much easier than say…16 mile hilly bike rides.
8.       Really? Where in Maine are you going?
Boy, your ability to predict my answers needs work!  See my answer to question #7 for this answer as well. If I listened to Google maps, I'd be going down a forest service road at 50mph until reaching... well, nothing.  Touche…
9.       Besides Antarctica, where in the world would you most like to go?
New Zealand. It's been my wife, Lisa's dream to visit Antarctica for as long as I've known her and she's more than earned some dream-fulfilling with all the help she's been during this process.  I couldn't have done it without her -literally.  Agreed; our wives have endured quite a bit over the last few years, what with my silly training and your constant writing…or…almost constant writing. I think we need to hear from a Searcher pretty soon.
10.   Okay, last one; role play. You are one of the spies in Vegas, you have just watched the woman (can’t remember her name) slice her own head off in a broken window and Flagg turns to you. What is your next move?
Ahh yes, another obscure reference unless you're a Stephen King fan.  Me?  I'd put my head between my legs, kiss my butt goodbye and give that detonator a squeeze turning Vegas into a irradiated wasteland for the next few centuries.
 Now I feel obscure, I thought everyone read The Stand!  I should have made you pop a balloon for that last one!

Speaking of balloons, Josh will be at the Chester County Balloon Festival June 15th and 16th signing books and answering more pertinent questions (event staff will make sure he knows all the directions you need). If you can’t wait that long, he will be at the Chester County Book and Music Company on June 5 in West Chester. 


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