The 10D10 Interview Challenge

#19 – Shawn Chesser, author, left coaster, man with strong jawline.

(Shawn on the left, me on the right at Scares that Care in 2018)

Shawn and I have bumped elbows for years as fellow writers in the zompoc genre. We finally got to hang out a bit at last year’s Scares that Care weekend in Williamsburg Virginia, and I’m pleased to report he’s as nice in person as he pretends to be online. No really. Geniuinely cool dude. Super strong jawline. Like, male model good.

Anyway, Shawn jumped at the chance to get interviewed. (I think it might’ve been laundry day at the Chesser household.) So I rolled some dice, and we worked up this piece of art for your enjoyment.

Shawn’s random dice rolls were: 6, 7, 7, 5, 10, 10, 8, 1, 4, 10

Which led us to this:

1. What’s your favorite cold beverage and why?

Definitely Diet Coke. My answer would be different if I hadn’t reached my beer limit in my mid thirties.

You… hit the beer limit? I was unaware anyone had ever pushed that hard to achieve anything. I once hit the ‘cake limit’ at a birthday party. I felt awful after eating that kid’s entire cake. I wonder what his name was? I didn’t get it after his dad threatened me off with a pitchfork and a torch.

2. Do you have a writing mascot on your desk? Like, a My Little Pony figure your daughter gave you that sits there, judging you as you try and write? Or maybe yours is inspirational.

It’s a yarn creature that’s said to increase imagination and creativity. Picked it up in Astoria, Oregon many years ago.

It seems to work, so yarn that bad boy up. My little ‘watcher’ has disappeared since we got a new desk from the nearby library. I think Willow recaptured her My Little Pony figure, and probably has it somewhere I’ll step on it late at night. Good times.

3. What was the first movie you saw in the theater, and what did you think?

First one I can remember that had a huge effect on me was Jaws. To this day I can’t go in the ocean without the niggling fear I’m about to be chomped in half.

You are at least the 2nd person to respond to this question with Jaws, and that’s not including my own terrifying fears this movie put into me. Spielberg made a masterpiece, methinks.

4. Most awkward date moment you ever had. Go.

Took my wife on a first date to see Ghost. Theater was empty and in walk three very large ladies who proceed to sit directly in front of us. We moved. When they mirrored our move, we figured, erroneously, that we were being pranked by Totally Hidden Videos or some shit. True story. We’re still married twenty-six years later.

Dude, that’s really weird that they followed you. Any chance they were afraid of ghosts, and just wanted safety in numbers? Or maybe they were just trolling you long before it was a thing. Also, congrats on 26 years of marriage! That’s an amazing accomplishment, and not that awkward at all.

5. Which would you rather do; have a nice cookout on a summer afternoon or dip your junk in the water?

Unless the water is crystal and Jaws free, I’d have to just cookout and work on my tan.

Crystal. Clear.

6. Whose autograph would you be willing to have tattooed on your body, and where would you get it on your body?

Edgar Allan Poe’s. It’d have to be a full on Tupac-style belly tat in Olde English font.

I actually laughed out loud when I read this answers, so three points to you on the scorecard. Do you think Poe could write his autograph all old-timey like that on your tummy? Or do you think he’d be all creepy about it, and try to touch your nipples the whole time?

7. Do you like to travel? What’s one of the coolest places you ever went, and are you allowed to return there after what you did. Shame. Shame on you.

We love to travel. Pearl Harbor was very memorable. They kicked us out after I tried to fire the Mighty Mo’s main guns.

Were you trying to load the main guns? No fun, these people. Although I’m sure it’s a somber place. I’ve never been able to get out to Hawaii (East Coasters have a tougher time for Hawaii) but I would *love* to get out there sometime. For now, I just get to go rub my balls on Plymouth Rock, or walk The Freedom Trail in Boston.

8. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me what my favorite book was, I could retire. How many times have you been asked that same frigging question?

More times than I care to count. Still, a dollar per won’t come close to covering the travel costs we’ll incur once we’re retired empty-nesters. My wife has a list a mile long.

I would love to see that list. Maybe you can make it out here to New England? Leah and I officially offer to put you guys up if you want to come to New Hampshire. It’ll be nice, as long as you can tolerate the two girls and their rambunctious natures. You already met them both, so you’re kinda aware of what they’re like. 

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

False! I just finished getting my ass handed to me in Battlefield 5. Though I’m easy to kill, I really dig first person shooters.

When it comes to first person shooters, I’m obsessed with Borderlands. Nothing matches the same humor for me, and I love humor. I liked a lot of the stuff in that era though, but I tend to play RPGs a lot. I love me a good story.

10. What’s something (a trope, let’s say) that comes up over and over again in your genre that drives you frigging mental that you wish you could change?

I’m real easy going. To each their own, I say. Truly grateful the genre I write in has such ravenous readers.

Amen to the ravenous readers. Wait, was that a pun about zompoc fans? GENIUS.

Shawn, as always, it’s a pleasure to gaze upon your jawline, and I look forward to hosting you and the wife on your New England trips!

 

Shawn Chesser resides in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and two children. He studied writing at Harvard on the Hill (PCC Sylvania) many years ago.

Shawn is a big fan of the apocalyptic horror genre. Stephen King, Cormac McCarthy, and George Romero are strong influences. Shawn has been a zombie fanatic for decades. He likes his creatures shambling, trudging, and moaning. As for fast, agile, screaming specimens . . . not so much.

When not writing, Shawn, a practicing father, spends the rest of his time doting on his children and doing whatever his wife says.

Learn more about Shawn here on his website.

Or check out his books on Amazon here.