Behind The Pen: with Kevin Hearne (+Giveaway)

I love interviews, But I find the artists behind the stories equally intriguing, and I think they deserve as much limelight as their characters.  So here, instead of a list of questions about the story, the plot, and the characters, I ask authors the same 11 questions and hopefully get a glimpse behind the pen...

Kevin Hearne's new Iron Druid Chronicles is one of Del Rey Spectra's most anticipated releases this Spring, and after reading the first book, Hounded, I can understand why.  His writing is fresh, his characters are three dimensional, and his world of Druids, goddesses, and funny Irish wolfhounds is original and extremely entertaining.  I couldn't have been happier when Mr. Hearne agreed to answer my list of questions.  

Q1: What is the last book you read?

Truthseeker by C.E. Murphy. It had a Monty Python allusion in the first ten pages so I was hooked.

Q2: If you were stuck on a desert island, what book would you like to have with you?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The struggle (and the necessity) to affirm one’s unique identity in the face of a society that favors uniformity—that’s catnip to me.

Q3: What is your favorite swear word?

I rotate among a series of ass- prefixes. Right now I think “asskitten” is pretty funny…which probably indicates my dire need for therapy.

Q4: What is your biggest pet-peeve?

Spammers. They’re fucking asskittens.

Q5: What quality do you most like in a man?

OK, I’m just going to point to the Old Spice Guy.

Q6: What quality do you most like in a woman?

I like braaaains. Most of my friends are women and most of them are smarter than me. I never get bored when I talk to them because they have a wider conversational range than the majority of men I know. Sports and cars and stuff are great, don’t get me wrong, but once you’ve exhausted sports and cars and stuff, you have to say good-bye to your guy friends and find a woman to talk to.

Q7: What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt?

Type design. I am SUCH a font snob. I once spent a whole week drawing nothing but lowercase double-story g’s. The week after that I became obsessed with ffi ligatures.

Q8: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Gah. I’m not well-traveled—a condition I hope to ameliorate—so what I say now might change in a year or two. Right now I’d say southwestern Colorado—a place in the San Juan Mountains. The kind of place Sam Elliott talks about in those commercials, using that virile voice of his. Actually, scratch that. You know what I want? Wherever I live and wherever I go, I just want Sam Elliott to narrate it. “When Kevin first came to this land,” he’ll rumble in a smoky basso profundo, “he stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Corrupt politicians exploded under his benevolent gaze. Spammers went sterile and the people loved him. They named their children after characters in his books and they gave him gourmet tamales. Microbrew draughts fountained from the earth in the wake of his passing, and everyone agreed that life was generally better when Kevin was around. I guess you could say Kevin has serious issues to imagine a scenario like this, but because it’s me, Sam Elliott, saying it, it’s warm and manly and all-American, and you can’t think of anything more charming or desirable than whatever it is I’m talking about right now.” Yeah, that’s what I want.

Q9: What inspires you?

Trees. My wife. Letters to a Young Poet. A finely crafted beer. Sam Elliott’s voice, clearly. And music! Yngwie Malmsteen and Six Parts Seven when I’m writing everyday scenes, DragonForce for battles. When I turn on the DragonForce, muthafuckas gonna die.

Q10: If you could be one person (dead or alive) for a day who would you be?

William Bloody Shakespeare. To have that facility, that skill with language—well, I’d have to change my shorts first, and then I’d go to’t. I’d write a play called No, It’s Too Perilous.

Q11: Mac or PC?

Mac

After reading Mr. Hearne's answers here, you can probably see why I consider Hounded one of the funniest books I've read recently. A great big thank you to Kevin!  So happy to have you stop by.

Jessica, thank you so much for inviting me to chat!

Del Rey was generous enough to offer up 3 copies of Hounded to 3 lucky commenters.  Here's how that'll work:

• Your comment is your entry
• Followers of this site get 2 entries
• US/CAN only
• Contest ends next Thursday, April 21st at midnight (pst)
• Winner will be announced Friday, April 22nd