Welcome to WOLF NOTES, where interview questions stray from the rest of the pack. It’s nice to know the usual stuff like where an author gets their inspiration and why they write, but sometimes we need a little fun in our lives.
This week I welcome A. L. Sirois
A. L. Sirois is also a developmental editor, graphic artist and a performing musician. He has had fiction published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Fantastic, Amazing Stories, and Thema, and online at Electric Spec, Every Day Fiction and Flash Fiction Online, among other publications. His story In the Conservatory was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Other works include a children’s book, Dinosaur Dress Up (Tambourine Press / William Morrow). His graphic novel, THE ENDLESS INCIDENT, based on a video game, was published in February, 2016. Al has been playing drums for over fifty years in rock and jazz combos. As an artist, he has hundreds of drawings, paintings and illustrations to his credit. Al has contributed comic art for DC, Marvel, and Charlton, and has scripted for Warren Publications. He wrote and drew “Bugs in the System” for witzend #12, the famous comics fanzine started by for MAD artist Wally Wood. He lives in Rockingham County, North Carolina with his wife and occasional collaborator, author Grace Marcus. Together they are writing a Young Adult novel set in ancient Egypt.
Wolf: If you could be any animal in the universe, what would it be and why?
A. L.: Tough one, because we don’t know what animals exist on other planets. Excluding those, however, I guess I’d have to opt for an otter. They seem to truly enjoy life.
Wolf: What is the nicest thing you’ve ever done to your characters?
A. L.: I don’t kill too many of them. I generally let them have happy endings.
Wolf: What is the meanest thing you’ve ever done to your characters?
A. L.: I had one experimented on by a government-sponsored institute. It didn’t end well.
Wolf: Do you consider yourself a cat person, or a dog person?
A. L.: Both. We currently have a cat but are planning to get a dog.
Wolf: There is a door at the end of dark, damp corridor. You hear rumbling. What do you do?
A. L.: Heh – this reminds me of that old adventure game, Zork. I guess I’d first make sure there’s no threatening little dwarf in the corridor with me, then I’d check my inventory, then I’d go open that door. Hopefully it isn’t the entrance to that blasted maze.
Wolf: If you had to pick a weapon, what would it be and why?
A. L.: Either a Glock or an epee. The Glock for its stopping power, and the epee because I’d have to know how to fence, which would be fun.
Wolf: The world is about to end. What is the first thing you do?
A. L.: Make sure I know where my wife is so I can be with her.
Wolf: Which is of your characters is your favorite?
A. L.: Tough one. The one I thought about most while writing was a young woman named Arrizida Yokoi, the main lead in my novel Blood Relations. One of these days I must get back to her story, which remains incomplete.
Wolf: Describe a meal you would be served while visiting another world.
A. L.: A selection of flavored and scented gasses, some thick, some thin, laced with nanobots that enter your body via your taste buds and create a mild hallucinogenic effect.
Wolf: What story are you working on now?
A. L.: Several! One is a YA tale of time-travel, one is a chapter book reminiscent of Edward Eager’s work, and one is a solarpunk book. I do have several short stories clamoring for my time; I’ll get to ‘em eventually. I tend to work on stories in batches, between books.
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