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!
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.
Website: TheNeverChronicles.com
Author blog: whatisthenever.blogspot.com
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