The 10D10 Interview Challenge

#18 – Adrienne Lecter, author, rocket launcher fan, not an American at all, still really cool.

Adrienne is a fellow apocalyptic writer I met while searching the interwebz for an old fashioned pen pal. Turns out she thought I was looking to send money to her via PayPal, and it’s been awkward ever since. I did manage to peer pressure her into writing an interview for me between chapters of her newest work in progress, and I consider that an adequate pen pal relationship.

Adrienne’s dice rolls were: 8, 4, 9, 7, 3, 2, 5, 4, 4, 1

And that led us to this interview massacre:

1. Coffee is the best of all beverages: prove me wrong or agree.

Agree – I even have it mentioned in the description of the first book in my zombie apocalypse Green Fields series, Incubation, and it plays a pivotal role in the book! Or at least for the main character. Just consider, heading into the zombie apocalypse without coffee. Is that a life worth fighting for?!

I think coffee should play a pivotal role in EVERY book. Seriously. How many of us are incapable of functioning on a daily basis without 3 or 4 pots of the stuff.

2. When you read your positive reviews on Amazon or Goodreads, do you touch yourself?

Why else would I read them if I didn’t? And yes, I read that in Deadpool voice, because that’s how I roll.

Ahhh yes. Deadpool voice. Classic. And good on you for being honest about touching yourself. Between you and Armand last week, we’re on a masturbation kick. SELF LOVE FOR LIFE.

3. Who’s your favorite actor and actress, and what are the best examples of their work? Bonus points if your answer isn’t Ben Affleck in Phantoms, despite him being the bomb, yo.

That’s almost impossible to answer so I’ll go with the nice, good-girl answer and say Sigourney Weaver, in Alien and Aliens. No explanation required.

And here we are… with our 2nd Sigourney Weaver mention in the challenge. I think that really speaks to the performance, and the character she created from that script. Such an absolute, magnificent character. I bet she drank the FUCK out of some coffee.

4. Ever have a friend eat the leftovers out of your fridge? How did that make you feel? Where did you hide the body?

Yes. Very, very homicidal. I mean, sad. SAD. What body? Why do you ask? Didn’t you like the delicious stew?

I mean… it tasted like pork, so I went with it. Pass the salt, and for the record, the leftovers are all yours.

5. Be honest: do you still splash in puddles? If you don’t… why the fuck not? What can you do to splash in more puddles? Because it’s FUN AS HELL.

YES! Get better puddle-splashing boots for maximum performance! Counts for cardio, if that helps motivate you… but who’d need that? It’s PUDDLES! I’m stealing this for my next book, just saying. No one ever adds the puddles.

NO ONE ADDS THE PUDDLES. Not sure why I’m yelling so much in this interview. Maybe it’s a deep and abiding connection I feel with you, my Austrian friend. Did I mention a chunk of my WIP takes place in Vienna? Too cool.

6. What’s your current work in progress, and why is it taking so long to finish?

Now you sound like my readers. Are you one of my readers? Why the hell not? I only just started on the next book since my previous release is still high on its own supply, but I know, I’m such a slacker with my ten-book series.

I am unfortunately not one of your readers yet. I put you on my TBR, but at the rate I’m going with the two little ones, I won’t put a dent in that pile until one of them is in the college we can’t afford to pay for. Also, ten book series’ are no joke. That’s a lot of words.

7. I love games. Do you enjoy playing games? Card games, board games, naked Twister, that kind of thing? What games do you like, or have played?

No, No, only on a second full moon in November, but I am a passionate video gamer. Give me things to kill, preferably with a rocket launcher. Quake 3 Team Arena all the way! Damn, I think I just dated myself… I also use gaming to get in the right headspace for book plotting. A lot of people have been killed over Skyrim and Diablo 3.

Whoa.. Quake 3? You’re not like, old, but old people don’t think you’re young anymore, do they?

8. When you’re reading or listening to a book, do you like shorter chapters, or longer ones, and why. Frequent pee breaks needed, or do you have the bladder of a camel-god?

Don’t care—I have a kindle, a phone, and blue-tooth headphones. While that camel-god business does sound worth looking into, I like to take my reading and listening enjoyment everywhere with me. Every. Where.

Camel-god bladders really are the shit. Definitely take some time and include that with the puddles in an upcoming book. Totally worth it, trust me. Drink the kool aid. All praise HUMP!

9. Video games rot your brain? True or false, and if you said false, what’s your favorite game to play?

You say that like “true” would be a bad thing? I’d be out of a genre to write if that was the case! I’m a passionate gamer so I’m obliged by the Guild of Passionate Gamers to insist it’s false, and pretty much everything with a rocket launcher. And sandbox games, because why wouldn’t you spend countless weekends sitting indoors, plucking virtual flowers, if you could just go out there and commit real-life herbicide?

I can’t even describe you the hours I’ve put into sandbox MMOs. I’ve harvested so many raw materials for crafting in a game world it’s not even funny.

10. I get asked why I write in Genre X/Y all the time. That shit’s old as hell. So instead; what genre do you wish you wrote in, but haven’t yet, and why?

SciFi / Space Opera! It’s on my list but those pesky post-apocalyptic freaks keep demanding I write more zombie apocalypse books for them! Heathens! Really, I blame being raised on a steady diet of Star Wars and spending years playing Mass Effect. That has predestined me to one day write some space adventure series. But the world building takes time, as does the necessary research, and I went to school for molecular biology so everything virus is kind of my MO, and what were we talking about again? So my next big series will be about a spore-based zombie apocalypse caused by alien invasion, to inch a little closer to that far-away dream.

Spores are AWESOME story fodder. I debated using that in my series early on, but bailed on that as the cause for a spiritual basis. As for Mass Effect… oh hell yes. Hell. to. the. yes.

And we’re off! Thanks Adrienne!

Adrienne Lecter has a background in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, loves ranting at inaccuracies in movies, and spends increasingly more time at the shooting range. She lives with the man and two cats of her life in Vienna, Austria, and is working on the next books in the Green Fields series. You can find out more on her website at http://adriennelecter.com

You can peruse her stories here on Amazon.