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.
Joan Wendland is an engineer, game designer, and author. In her free time she – who am I kidding, Joan has no free time. You can find her games at Welcome to Blood & Cardstock Games! and her first novel SF/F Backstage is available from Amazon for download. Her second novel ‘Mr. Darcy: Cogs Maketh the Man’ will be available this summer.
Wolf: You’re right, there is no such thing as free time. What is the strangest food you’ve ever eaten?
Joan: I think technically it was a drink. It was called a Green-Eyed Molly and was gin, lemon juice, macha green tea powder, and egg whites. It wasn’t horrible, but the flavors fought rather than mingled.
Wolf: Ick. The mouth shouldn’t be a combat zone. What is the nicest thing you’ve ever done to your characters?
Joan: In Backstage I gave CC Law a dream job and true love. What could be nicer than that?
Wolf: That is nice. What is the meanest thing you’ve ever done to your characters?
Joan: In the first LARP I wrote I gave a character the name Clarence and wrote him as hating his name so much he made his girlfriend call him Sheriff instead. When he proposed she made him promise to let her call him Clarence or she would marry her pirate suitor instead. You think that’s not so mean, but you should have seen how much the player suffered.
Wolf: I can understand that. You’ve just been turned into a plant. Describe yourself.
Joan: Pretty pissed off. I don’t want to be a plant.
Wolf: I’m suddenly reminded of baby Groot. If you could have a super power, what would it be?
Joan: I would never get old, injured, or sick, but would just drop dead one day in my old age.
Wolf: Hope you get some warning first. The world is about to end. What is the first thing you do?
Joan: Find my husband, find some privacy, and have epic end of the world sex. Is this a trick question?
Wolf: What five items would you want to have in a post-cataclysmic world?
Joan: A nuclear power plant, a standing army, a pharmaceutical plant, arable land in an easily defensible valley, and a pony.
Wolf: You think big. What story are you working on now?
Joan: I’m writing a sequel to Backstage. It’s working title is ‘Looking for Trouble’. CC is going to be given an opportunity to pick her own assignment to test her suitability for a promotion from trouble shooter to trouble analyst.
Wolf: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Joan: I’m a media junkie. When I’m not writing I like to read, listen to music, and watch movies at the Alamo Drafthouse. I also like going to the beach off season to soak up some sun and -big surprise- read.
Wolf: I could use some beach time. Who was your role-model growing up?
Joan: Fittingly, my role-model was fictional. Her name was Bunny Watson and she was a reference librarian with a phenomenal memory. Catherine Hepburn played her in The Desk Set.
Wolf: Thanks for stopping by. Connect with Joan through these links:
@BandCGames
alkaplan 