I continue my interviews of other wonderful authors this week with a stop by from my Odyssey classmate and good friend A.E. Decker. Her latest short story is up (for free) at Crowded Magazine.

Thanks for stopping by the blog, Ann!

1. What’s your story? Who are you, the person?

Damned if I know. I’m a person who works hard so she can laze about later. Someone who hugs Daleks. I’m happiest when immersed in a good story, whether it’s on a page, a screen, or in my head.

2. Tell me more about what you’re working on now.

Currently, I’m working on the second novel in a series about a tomato-obsessed hit man of the paranormal. In this book, my protagonist, Chris Ricotta, finds himself facing off his most hated enemy–Winter himself. It’s fast-moving, a bit snarky, but not entirely un-serious.

3. I can’t wait to read that when it’s available! Who is your favorite character to write?

Chris is probably my favorite character to write because he’s easy to move through a story. He dives right into action, so I don’t have to prod him along. Also, he has an amusing worldview and an opinion on everything under the sun which he’s perfectly willing to share.

4. Which character is most frustrating to write?

Currently, my most frustrating character to write is Kieran Cheval, a chess knight turned human. His mind is almost completely alien, so wrapping my brain around his worldview takes some mental gymnastics. He’s also strangely unpredictable; I never seem to know what he’ll do in a given scene.

5. What’s something you’re really proud of?

I’m proud of every story I write, but I’m probably most proud of finishing a YA novel titled The Falling of the Moon. It took nearly five years to complete, but I’m very happy with it and intend to see it published some day.

6. Name three interesting things that most people don’t know about you.

Three things? Well, I was terrified of the Headless Horseman as a kid (now, of course, I think he’s cool.) I know quite a lot about snakes, because I used to be fascinated by them when I was ten, and I studied acting in London with members of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

7. You receive a job offer to work in an unknown alien spaceship as a human culture specialist. Do you take the job? Why or why not?

I don’t take the job. I don’t effin’ understand humans or their culture myself, and this is after studying history!

8. The zombie apocalypse is coming. You have an hour and $50. What do you do?

Buy chocolate, hole up somewhere, and wait for them to rot. Seriously, zombies are overrated. We’ll start talking when the Dalek apocalypse happens.

_________________

A. E. Decker, a former ESL tutor, earned a master’s degree in history before deciding she’d rather be writing fiction. Her interests, in no particular order, are chocolate, art, chocolate, chocolate, video games, Daleks, chocolate, chocolate Daleks, reading, and chess. Like all writers, she is owned by two cats.