Why science fiction?
I grew up with science fiction, but if I’m being honest it was mostly through televisions shows where my passion for the genre grew. I love seeing how characters react in these unreal situations, and imagining how I myself would react.
I actually found I had so much to write on this topic I’ve made a short post about it. You can find it here.
What’s your favourite book?
This is probably a terrible answer, but my most read book at the moment is not a traditional book. I have definitely fallen in love with certain “normal” books over the years, but the one I love at the moment is called the ‘Book of Answers‘.
I am the most indecisive person in the world.
I struggle with making decisions, especially when each option looks just as appealing. So I brought a book where you think about your question and then choose a page randomly and you get your answer. I was obsessed with this when I first bought it.
I even brought it into the work and the girls tried it and it was surprising accurate. It predicted minor things that would happen in the office, it was hilarious. I’m not suggesting this book can actually tell the future, but it is something that’s super fun for small questions and making decisions.
If you could have written any book, what would it have been?
It’s not a particular book but I would have loved to have been the one who first started the zombie or dystopian genre. Like imagine if its modern day and no zombie novels or shows like that had ever been written and then I come out with 28 Days Later or I Am Legend or just any of those really great premises.
Or the movies Bridesmaids, Palm Springs or Spring Break Down. If we’re going totally off genre and not a book, and totally not answering the question properly at all.
Trying to focus on an actual book? I will think about it and get back to you.
Why writing?
I love writing, and grew up doing it a lot. My aunt was a school teacher and she would encourage me to write my own stories when I’d go visit her in the holidays. I had a notebook where I wrote a story about her dogs in human form climbing up a tree on a farm and entering a parallel world.
I love how we can imagine parts of ourselves in different characters in different situations in books. Each of my main characters will always have a little piece of myself in them no matter how small. And I love that you can express that -even tiny – part of yourself in writing, outside of experiences you’ll have in real life. Kind of narcissistic, no? Making a piece of yourself live on in words.
Also I love that I can be far more wittier and succinct on paper than I am in real life. In conversations I’m constantly ruining puns and phrase by forgetting one of the words or mixing two phrases together. On paper though? I totally have time to google and sound like I know what I’m talking about (although I’m sure I’ll miss one or two).
Do you use a pen name?
Kind of, yes. Spenser is my second middle name and A. M. are the initials of my first and other middle name. I felt initials were better suited to the Sci Fi genre, and Spenser sounded more succinct than my actual last name, while still keeping it close to my actual name.
I’m not using a pen name to keep my identity secret, but I heard it was a great way to separate work from different genres.