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.
Jean Marie Ward writes fiction, nonfiction and everything in between. Her credits include a multi-award nominated novel, two popular art books and editing CrescentBlues.com. Her short stories have appeared everywhere from Asimov’s to the anthologies of Zombies Need Brains. Her video interviews are featured on BuzzyMag.com. Learn more at JeanMarieWard.com.
Wolf: Thank you for stopping by for this interview today. If you had to pick a weapon, what would it be and why?
Jean Marie: When I moved into my first apartment, my dad recited all the usual precautions (Lock your door…Don’t drink with strangers…Avoid dark alleys…Go for the eyes…Kick ‘em in the nuts…) Mom smiled beatifically, presented me with a heavy cast-iron frying pan, and said: “It’s only murder if you use a knife.”
Wolf: I love your mom’s sense of humor. What is the nicest thing you’ve ever done to your characters?
Jean Marie: Finished their story arcs.
Wolf: That is rather nice. What is the meanest thing you’ve ever done to your characters?
Jean Marie: Left them dangling for ten years while I learned how to write a sequel.
Wolf: Ouch. They must have been pretty mad at you. You’ve just been turned into a plant. Describe yourself.
Jean Marie: A blackberry bramble, insidious and prickly.
Wolf: Yet the berries are sweet. Do you consider yourself a cat person, or a dog person?
Jean Marie: Both, but I live with a cat, because it would be cruel to inflict me on a dog. I don’t do mornings, and I’m not human before lunch.
Wolf: I guess you won’t be going on any predawn walks. If you could have a super power, what would it be?
Jean Marie: Persuasion.
Wolf: I think you already have that. There is a door at the end of a dark, damp corridor. You hear rumbling. What do you do?
Jean Marie: Check the floor below to make sure there’s no water coming through the ceiling fixture in the room beneath. I’m terribly prosaic.
Wolf: Smart. What is your favorite body of water and why?
Jean Marie: The Pacific Ocean along the cliffs of Vandenberg Air Force Base. It holds all the blues in sky and space. I could watch it crash against those rocks forever.
Wolf: Sounds gorgeous. I’ll have to visit some time. What story are you working on now?
Jean Marie: “Siren Bridge”, a novella featuring an illusionist, a Wagnerian siren and a cast of reprobates up to no good in a Steampunk frontier; and “Stolen Souls”, a short story featuring a vampire in 1723 in the Louisiana Colony.
Wolf: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Jean Marie: Drag the husband to a restaurant and a movie, hang with friends, read, shop, think about my next story—anything except cleaning. I like cleaning about as much as I like morning. But don’t pay any attention to the neighbors who ascribe my pallor to Transylvanian heritage. I’m Irish-Italian, and you know how daytimers exaggerate.
Wolf: Too funny. Connect with Jean Marie through these links:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeanmariewardwriter
Twitter: @Jean_Marie_Ward
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/jmward14/
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