Rachel Thompson

Rachel Thompson (aka RachelintheOC) is the author of A Walk In The Snark, the #1 bestselling humorous and, at times poignant, eBook collection of essays (Amazon, $2.99). She's also the cofounder of the Indie Book Collective along with Carolyn McCray and Amber Scott, with whom she cowrote Dollars & Sense: The Definitive Guide to Self-Publishing Success (Amazon, $2.99).


So, what were we talking about?


7 Questions with Rachel Thompson


             1. What are your favorite and your least favorite sounds?

favorite: great music & kids giggling is a toss-up. least favorite: static. can't stand it.  

2. What turns you on creatively, spiritually, emotionally? (Answer all
or only the ones you choose.)

creatively: music. I'm very sound oriented and when I really need to get into a certain mood or zone, I go to my music. emotionally, same answer. I think emotions are so intrinsically tied into creativity that music is a critical bridge between the two. Spiritually, I don't adhere to anything set, though I was raised in a Jewish home and I do believe in a God. I just don't feel it plays a part in my every day life.  

3. What decision in your career are you most grateful for?

The day I quit my 15-year career selling my soul for pharmaceuticals. There was nothing about that job that I loved--or even liked. I do believe everything happens for a reason however, and the lessons I learned about selling and marketing help me now as an indie author. So from a karma perspective, it's all good.


4. What decision in your career do you most regret?

I don't believe in regrets. Waste of time. I do wish I'd have focused more on my writing though. But, would I be where I am now if I had? Who's to say?  

5. Do you ever hate what you've created?

I tell my children never to use the world hate. I've had experiences in my life where I'm allowed to use that word, but they haven't -- not yet. As for my work, no. I'm a huge fan of rewrites, edits, cuts. And of having other people I trust (my writing group, my editors) take a look and help me change things with an objective eye. Writing is a solitary job but my ego is not that big to think I'm so great that I don't need help. I do. 

That said, I have plenty of reviewers who hate what I write!  

6. What is the best thing you ever ate?

Toss up: Vegetable duck pie at Shun Lee West in NYC or Espresso & sugar soaked donuts in Chicago. Amazing. 

7. Assuming heaven exists, what would you like to hear God (or Allah
or Yahweh or Odin. Generally the Supreme Being of your choice.) say
when you arrive at the pearly gates?

Feel free to eat as much as you'd like and not gain weight. You don't have to cook or clean up. And all your loved ones are waiting for you in the back. 

Thanks Rachel! This was far too long a time in coming and I really appreciate you taking the time to do it! You can find Rachel on Twitter, Facebook, or on her popular blog RachelintheOC.com.

Thanks for reading and I'll see ya later!

Katherine Walker

Emmy nominated Katherine Walker works in unscripted television, as a producer, director and writer. She grew up in Virginia, lived on Kauai for ten years and is now based in Los Angeles. She has worked with Entertainment One, Discovery and Mark Burnett among many others. 


And now, the envelope please.


6 Questions with Katherine Walker:


1) What is the least interesting thing about being a director?

"Having to execute things you know won't work due to politics (working with big egos/little talent)

2nd least interesting--looking for work/job interviews, esp with people who don't understand what you do."

2) What is your favorite vice or virtue?

"Vice--Indulging in intoxicants, on occasion (binge-celebrating!); listening to music really, really loud and blowing speakers!
Virtue--kindness, especially to someone who is down-and-out or having a bad time / charity"

3) What is the best thing you ever ate?

"Fresh Maine Lobster (especially outside on Robinson Wharf!)"

4) What are your favorite and least favorite words?

"Favorite: verisimilitude, bemused, exacerbate, onomatopoeia, wonky, yowza
Least favorite (generally using a noun as a verb) like the economy 'impacted' my life and 'loan money' (it's 'lend' money); turn-key."

5) To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

"I never learned how to set boundaries (due to some pretty bad childhood trauma) so I have a very high tolerance for abusive situations (which are quite prevalent in the 'film' industry); I don't know how to advance myself like others do, meaning I am not that great at politicking for my own benefit; I just work hard, have integrity and try to be true to the process--when a lot of times, I should have really been more concerned with self-preservation. We'll see how it ends up in the end."

6)  What decision in your career are you most thankful for?

"Being persistent on a few key occasions: 1) securing my first PA job on "The Lost World" by contacting the A.D. repeatedly; 2) getting Harrison Ford a cup of coffee and delivering it to him even after someone else gave him a cup; 3) not giving up when the EP on "Amazing Race, season 3" told me he wouldn't hire me as a producer--I suggested a drop in title, then, and accepted the Associate Producer role. The episode 311 that I put together in post that year won the series' first Emmy. I guess, overall, not giving up. Which is ironic because now that's all I think about -- getting out of the rat race and like the Frank Zappa song says, 'moving to Montana.' The problem? I really love what I do.
The reason the Harrison Ford story is significant (duh!) is not because I got him a cup of coffee--it was because I was only hired for 3 days and ended up doing every day on that movie over 5 months (because I worked very hard for the First A.D. but also because I approached Mr. Ford without being intimidated at all) -- a similar story was with Robert DeNiro when he was standing in the doorway of his trailer and no one would talk to him, they were all too scared. We were delayed over an hour due to a camera issue, and it was a Sunday and the gear had to come from Panavision Woodland Hills for some reason.

I went up to the stairs and looked up -- he asked me what was going on. I figured, if anyone knew about cameras it was him (due to Scorsese) so I told him the diopter broke and what was going on, he said thank you. By the end of that shoot ("Fifteen Minutes"), on the set, his hair & make-up person yelled at the director (who had kept Bob ducktaped in a chair for over 2 hours of re-takes--as he was getting the crap beaten out of him) that I was the only one who they would deal with! The little PA!

Well, not so little. I'm 6 feet tall!

Anyway, by being honest and upfront with big time actors, I actually gained their respect and they loved the fact that my attitude was "You're making $ 20 million? Get your ass to set!"

Thanks to Katherine for doing this and thanks to you for reading!

Shawna Benson

Writer and producer Shawna Benson has written for television, film and multi-platform (web). She co-wrote and sold a multi-platform series with Bernie Su, wrote scripts with her sister, Julie Benson and wrote, directed and produced a webseries pilot called #Follow. Shawna has maintained a screenwriting blog, Shouting Into the Wind since 2004 and is currently employed as Ashley E. Miller’s assistant. She also likes all manner of tea and is a budding oenophile. She also has a penchant for fireflies.

And now, like a leaf on the wind.


6 Questions with Shawna Benson:



1. What are your favorite and your least favorite words?
  "Favorite word: sonorous
Least favorite word: synergy"


2. What turns you on creatively, spiritually, emotionally?
  "I am a sucker for a good turn of phrase.  I find as I get older that my creativity is sparked more by the words and thoughts of others.  There’s something inspiring in the creativity of other people that helps to spark my own.  Of course, this runs counter to my tendency to keep to myself, so it’s a constant balancing act – spending time with others to become inspired so that I can go into solitude and utilize the inspiration for my own creativity.  Still, it’s the primary balancing act of my life, I reckon."


3. Turns you off creatively, spiritually, emotionally?

  "Nothing halts creativity faster than “I don’t think that’s possible” – whether it comes from others or from within.  The second you believe you can’t do something or that an idea is stupid is the second that inspiration dies.  An idea is never stupid – it may need further definition and refinement, but within every idea lies some kernel of golden truth."


4. You are to be reincarnated and you are given the choice of animal, vegetable, or mineral. Which do you choose?
  "Not sure I’m ready for non-sentient life, so I’m gonna go with reincarnation as a little purse dog (maybe a teacup terrier).  Those things are so pampered, I can’t imagine it being a bad life."


5. What is the closest you have ever come to giving up your craft? 

  "I nearly give up my craft every day.  There probably isn’t a day that I don’t think “I’m a fraud.  What on earth made me think I could write?” but ultimately, I always come back – the blank page is a siren song and I am forever damned to crash against the rocks (or something like that.  I swear, I am such a fraud.)"


6. What is the most fun you have ever had?
  "This is actually the most difficult question.  Fun is so fleeting, and usually only recognized once it has been had.  Some things are fun in retrospect but within the moment are not at all fun (thinking about “haunted” houses and seeing scary films here).  It’s so much easier to think of decidedly not fun times.  Okay, I’ve got one – most fun I ever had: 2 or 3 AM in the Driskill Hotel bar in Austin, Texas a couple of years ago for the Austin Film Festival and Screenwriting Conference.  I sat around in a circle with the likes of Shane Black, Terry Rossio and Danny Rubin who were all swapping stories and talking about writing.  I remember thinking in the moment that I never wanted that little party to end – that I was exactly where I wanted to be at that moment."


  7. Assuming heaven exists, what would you like to hear God (or Allah or Yahweh or Odin. Generally the Supreme Being of your choice.) say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

  “That’ll do, pig.”


Awesome. That'll do indeed. You are many things but fraud is hardly one of them. Thanks for doing this Shawna! If you'd like to know more about Shawna Benson choose any or all of the following:
Facebook
Google+
IMDB
Blog
LinkedIn
or
Twitter

And thanks to you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Tune in next time for author Michael R. Hicks.

See you next time!

Ben Templesmith

Ben Templesmith is a New York Times best selling artist and writer. He is most widely known for his work in the comic book industry where he has received multiple nominations for the International Horror Guild Awards as well as the industry’s top prize, the Eisner Award. He also won a Spike TV Scream Award.
While his most notable works have been 30 Days of Night (which spawned a major motion picture) and Fell his other projects are no less amazing. They include the critically acclaimed serial Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, Welcome to Hoxford, and Singularity 7, all of which he wrote and illustrated.
Ben has worked on the Star Wars, Doctor Who, GI Joe, Army of Darkness, Silent Hill and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer properties and produces art and design for music bands, dvds, toys, and film concept work.



Now, what exactly are you a doctor of?

6 Questions with Ben Templesmith:

1. What are your favorite and your least favorite words?

  "Current favourite? Lemonland.

Least favourite? "Y'all" ( when spoken by people not from the South )"


2. What turns you on creatively, spiritually, emotionally?

  "Good food, good conversation and company. Amazing art by peers and the masters. People who accept and like you despite the flaws."


3. What profession other than yours would you most like to attempt?

  "Hmmm. I have no life but comics. I'm going to become like a monk, except with sequential art."

4. What is the closest you have ever come to giving up your craft?

  "I've nearly given up on my craft twice, for personal and professional reasons... but I always come back. The comics always win. I'm not about to share those particular instances though."

5. What is the most fun you have ever had?

  "That's a lot of comic convention experiences rolled into one. I couldn't pick just one time. It's all about the people."


6. Assuming heaven exists, what would you like to hear God (or Allah or Yahweh or Odin. Generally the Supreme Being of your choice.) say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

  "Since absolutely none exist, according to rational belief, evidence and sheer common sense, I can't really answer the question except to say I'd have no consciousness and meet complete silence."

"Good food, good conversation and company." Absolutely. Thanks to Ben for a great interview. I really appreciate him taking the time. If you'd like to know more about the man and his work you can visit him at his website or, just send him an email to bentemplesmith@gmail.com. Thanks again Ben.

And thanks to YOU for reading! I really hope you enjoyed it. Next time: Author A.P. Stephens!

Mur Lafferty

Writer, podcast producer, gamer, geek, and even martial artist, Mur Lafferty is a multi-faceted talent and a force to be reckoned with. Hailing from Durham, NC where she lives with her husband and eight year old daughter, Mur churns out fiction and editorials at a breakneck pace. Her fiction works include the Parsec winning Playing For Keeps, Nanovor: Hacked!, Marco and the Red Granny, and my personal favorite The Afterlife Series. 

Mur's podcasts are many, Escape Pod magazine and Angry Robot Books Podcast premiere among them, the seminal author is probably best known as host of  the long running podcast I Should Be Writing " the podcast for wanna-be fiction writers by a wanna-be fiction writer." The award winning podcast follows Mur's trials and tribulations in the publishing world, offers advice to new and beginning authors, and boasts a series of interviews with some of the top names in scifi publishing. 

Mur is also an avid gamer and has written for several RPG's. She currently writes a column for the gaming magazine Knights of the Dinner Table, and in the past she has been a contributor to Games Quarterly, Suicide Girls, and Anime Insider.

Mur also studies Kung fu. No, I'm not making that up. Kung fu. Northern Shaolin five animals style to be exact. And she plays World of Warcraft. And Dragon Age. And Button Men.

Now, when you can move across this rice paper, and leave no trace...

6 Questions with Mur Lafferty:


1. What are your favorite and your least favorite words?

  "Favorite words: Pie, defenestrate, limerent. Least favorite words: It's misuse of words that bug me, and anyone using "nom" as anything but onomatopoeia. (for example, as a noun, "It's time for noms" or verb "I'm going to nom that" or adjective "It was nommy." I just cringed writing that.)"


2. What turns you on creatively, spiritually, emotionally?

  "Reading excellent writing makes me want to write, it moves me in ways that I can't describe. Any story well told can inspire me in a number of ways."


3. What is the closest you have ever come to giving up writing?

  "When I gave up on writing. :) I quit in college because I figured I'd never get better than I was - and others were better than me - and then spent a decade thinking to myself "I want to be a writer" without actually doing anything about it."


4. What is your favorite profanity?

  "Cunt-blossom."


5. What is the strangest thing you have ever done while writing?

  "Uh, nothing leaps to mind. I think one time I laid out Reese's Pieces on my desk and ate one for every hundred words I wrote, to push me along."


6. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God (or Allah or Yahweh or Odin. Generally the Supreme Being of your choice.) say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

  "Probably what Douglas Adams said the last known message from God: "We apologize for the inconvenience."

Reece's Pieces. I rather love Reese's Pieces.

Thank you to Mur for taking the time to share this. And thanks to you for taking the time to read! If you'd like to know more about Mur Lafferty simply go to the Murverse.

On the menu for tomorrow is comic book master Ben Templesmith! See you then!

Ray Dillon

Ray Dillon is an artist and writer in comics, movies, and games. Works a lot for IDW with some Marvel, DC, Archie and others thrown in. He lives in Maine with his beautiful and talented wife, comics artist Renae De Liz, their sons, Tycen (8) & Drake (1) (also beautiful and talented), and some cats that won't leave him alone (grrr--aww). He was born in Kansas with a rusty spoon in his mouth, but he'll be darned if he'll quit before he reaches all of his dreams. He wants YOU to do the same. MAKE IT HAPPEN!


And now, Thunderbirds are go.

6 Questions with Ray Dillon:

1. What are your favorite and your least favorite words?

  "Favorite: Baby
Least Favorite: Doubt"


2. What turns you on creatively, spiritually, emotionally?

  "Passion. What someone is doing, if they have a strong passion for life, love, family, the future, their goals, other people's goals, whatever. Just passion for positive things in life. THAT is what gets me going!"


3. Star Wars or Star Trek?

  "Gosh, it's hard to pick a favorite anything for me. I can find reasons to like just about anything. I guess I'll say Star Wars because it has more of a good time feeling to it. Star Trek is a little more serious and darker most of the time. Not enough Ewoks. :D"


4. What is the closest you have ever come to giving up your craft?

  "Never even come close."


5. What is the most fun you have ever had?

  "My honeymoon at Disneyland right after getting married at Comic-Con 2009. Renae was pregnant with our baby boy, Drake, and we also had our older son Tycen with us. My favorite place on earth and the whole time was filled with love and family. Just wonderful!"


6. Assuming heaven exists, what would you like to hear God (or Allah or Yahweh or Odin. Generally the Supreme Being of your choice.) say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

  "You never have to stress again and you can spend eternity doing whatever makes you and your loved ones happy. Also, you can fly now. COWABUNGA!!"


Fantastic! That you were married at Comic-Con may make you the coolest person I know! Thanks again for doing this!

If you would like to know more about Ray and Renae you can find Ray at http://www.raydillon.com/ or http://twitter.com/#!/RayDillon and Renae at http://www.renaedeliz.com/ or you can check out some of this dynamic duo's work:

Anne Rice Servant of the Bones 

Womanthology
The Last Unicorn
All Ghouls School 

And that's all for this time! I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! Next? The Indomitable, the Mighty, Mur!