The answers you've been waiting for...

Eighteen questions from Wednesday & Thursday to be answered! You guys rock, thank you.

Kari Lynn Dell asked: What genre do you write?

Hmm. Well, when I first started writing my first novel in November 2005 (inspired by National Novel Writing Month), I hung out in NaNoWriMo's literary fiction chat rooms. When I started querying the novel, I called it women's fiction, because I got the feeling that literary fiction was a label other people had to give you, you couldn't give it to yourself. (...am I "literary" enough?)

Then I had a number of agents tell me that my book was in fact chick lit because it had a first-person POV 20-something urban female narrator with a slightly confidential and humorous tone, despite the total lack of shopping, shoes, or other traditional chick lit content. So I tried to embrace the chick lit label (there are some posts in the early days of this blog on that subject), but... hell. I didn't write chick lit.

I wrote a coming-of-age novel. My narrator is female, and 26. My current WIP, a long short story, is about the devil (who is also female, though obviously much older). The only fiction I've ever been paid for is sci fi/fantasy. I've given up trying to categorize my writing beyond "fiction" (for now, at least), and I think that's made me much happier.

Patty asked: "How you do you get yourself um... you know, in the mood ... when you'd rather subject yourself to root canal that deal with a story that just won't come?"

You knew I was going to quote that whole thing verbatim, right? That's the most fabulously-phrased writing question ever.

If the story won't come, I write a different story. I've tried to force it, but that never seems to work for me. Sometimes I can write a different scene, or some backstory for a lesser-known character, or something else in the same vein to keep the work going on a single project, but if it's really not working, I have to walk away. I write something else that needs more badly to be written. This is the luxury of the unpublished: I'm not on deadline, so it doesn't matter if I just switch gears.

Also, I'm an extrovert, so I've learned that (even though writers are supposed to be these solitary creatures) if my writing is stagnating, it's probably because I'm too isolated. And I go online to chat with my writer friends, or I go for a walk, and I just get out of my own head for a while. I get energy from the outside world, so I will probably always need a class or a writer's group or something else outside myself and my home office to help my creative process along.

Bryan Russell (Ink) asked: If you had decided to make an acting comeback, and could have chosen any movie and role in the last ten years to do so, what would it be? and why?

Hey, cool question. Umm... can I just be Anne Hathaway for a while? Some fun stuff like Ella Enchanted and Devil Wears Prada (with Meryl-freaking-Streep) and then that knockout supporting role in Brokeback Mountain? If I was younger, I'd want Dakota Fanning's career; she was taken so seriously from such a young age, it's wonderful. I think child actors get more respect now than ever before, and I think that these young actors are able to create better performances than ever before as a result.

I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that made me think, damn, I wish I was still in the business, that role would be perfect for me. I'm sad that I'll never be on an episode of Law & Order.

Okay, here's my answer. I want someone to write a script for me, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Fred Koehler, because they are both spectacular talents and wonderful people and not nearly enough people know them. That will be my comeback.

Or, you know, anything with Daniel Craig or Christian Bale or Jennifer Connelly or Angelina Jolie.

Caroline Starr Rose asked: Where you are in the query process?

Stiiiiiill waitin'. Five or so agents have fulls. And maybe someday they will have time to read them.

Harley May asked: Will you hold my hand?

Only if it's while watching the director's cut LOTR with the commentary on. Oh, who am I kidding, yes, you can hold my hand any time you're near enough to do so. :-)

maine character asked: If you could have an hour's talk with any author ever, who would it be, why, and what would you ask?

Ooh, another good one... Hunter S. Thompson, because he had the ability (and willingness) to use language like a weapon. He articulated concepts and truths that you didn't know existed until he wrote them down, and then you'd read his words and realize you knew it all along, and your chest would hurt from that awakening. I wish he had written more fiction (actual fiction, not gonzo nonfiction).

I'd want to ask what scared him. I'd want to ask him about being a dad and a husband. I'd want to ask him about dying. I'd want to ask him what he regretted. I'd want to ask him what he loved. And what I would do instead to get him talking is hand him a drink and ask him to teach me how to shoot.

Simon C. Larter asked: Were there pierogies served with the sauerkraut and kielbasa [at the wedding reception you recently attended]? Also, would you ever consider vlogging a reenactment of your favorite acting moments from childhood?

Sadly, there were no pierogis as part of the buffet! But we stocked up on everything at Swiacki's before heading home.

No reenactments. Ever. I'm old now, the originals are already on film, it would be wrong.

jjdebenedictis asked: Would you like to know how superconductors work?

I'm a little intimidated by this question. Is this knowledge going to be important for me later?

Adam Heine asked: Batman v. Ironman. Go.

Jetlag + 3-year-old, better or worse than being forced to watch a Seventh Heaven marathon?

Batman. The original Dark Knight comic books cannot be topped by a man in a metal suit.

That second question is so horrible that it gives me chills. I'm going to pick the jetlagged parenting of a jetlagged 3yo, because I'm choosing to go on an international flight with my daughter next month, whereas I would never in a million years choose to watch a Seventh Heaven marathon.

KLM asked: As regards your writing goals: If you had to choose between critical acclaim and icon status posthumously or fabulous wealth and fame during your lifetime but then no one ever read anything you wrote ever again, which would you choose?

I assume that the fabulous wealth and fame during my lifetime are because people love my writing now, right, it's just that for whatever reason it ends up not standing the test of time? This isn't a trick question where I get fame and wealth for being horrible? Okay, then I would choose the fame now, because I think I have something to say, well, right now. If my words end up being timeless, that's fantastic, but I wrote it now, and I hope people will want to read it now.

Tabitha Bird asked: How goes the book? Is the universe cooperating with you? :)

Novel number two and I have been on the outs for a while, so I've been ignoring it in favor of several short stories. I think it's finally starting to get jealous and miss me, but I'm not going to give it any attention until it apologizes properly and agrees to behave. You have to be firm or these books will just walk all over you, really.

Sandy asked: Team Aniston or Team Jolie?

Um... yeah.

Journaling Woman asked: Is there a Pippi Longstocking inside you?

Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim's Daughter Longstocking. Always and forever.

Lucy Woodhull asked: If you could be any person who ever lived, what person would that be and how would you, as that person, defeat the alien-unicorn-wolf-bear hybrids who are, even as I type, flying in from the planet Mentos to enslave us all and make sex toys of our goats?

I would be Charles Darwin, because he's the one who stopped the alien-unicorn-wolf-bear hybrids the last time they tried to enslave us all, using finch-power and the secrets known only to the Galapagos turtles.

Audrey Beth Stein asked: If you didn't have writing (or acting) for a creative outlet, how do you think your creativity would be expressed?

Dance. Lots and lots more dance.

Another Round of Ask Me Anything!

I'm having one of those days. Save me from having to think of a meaningful blog post. Ask me anything you like in the comments, and I'll answer in the blog on Friday. Warning: if I don't know the answer or don't like the question, I will rewrite your question until it suits me, and THEN I'll answer it. Actually, you might like those answers better anyway.

HAVE AT IT!

A minute of perfection was worth the effort.

Let it be known that I have twice previously used a Fight Club reference as my blog title, so I am not merely pandering because Chuck Palahniuk (pronounced with the same inflection and first syllable as pollinate: POL-ah-nik) was the keynote speaker at this year's Muse and the Marketplace literary conference hosted by Grub Street. No, sir. I am pandering because I want to.

On Wednesday I'll tell you about the rest of the conference: the enthusiastic writers, the elusive agents and editors, the bland food, and the inspiring seminar with Pablo Medina. But for now... Chuck.

I'm quite sure others have made this comparison before, but Chuck is unambiguously reminiscent of Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates. He is tall, skinny, clean-cut, tidily-dressed, and has an impressively gentle manner. (And then there are the books.)

When he talks to you, he looks at you. Even when I asked him a question during the Q&A session after his speech, he didn't direct his answer across the audience. He answered me.

I first saw Chuck signing a stack of his books in the conference's welcome area on the mezzanine of the hotel where the event was held, right around the time the first session of the day was starting. (First rule of literary conferences: consider going to some of your lecture-sessions late, or leaving some early. The awesome keynote speaker is not in the sessions. I know other people who had their best conference interactions in similar circumstances: going for a much-needed coffee at the same time as the dream editor, or sitting with a group of agents relaxing after all the pitch session attendees had scattered to their seminars.)

Even knowing Chuck's author photo, I would not have recognized him; indeed, I leaned forward to make absolutely sure that he was signing a copy of Pygmy before approaching him with my book.

I asked him to sign a copy of Fight Club for my husband. He asked me to tell him something embarrassing about my husband to work into the inscription: he tells a story, I tell a story, and the circle is complete... plus the book-as-gift has additional resonance.

I blanked. (Okay, I thought of one thing, but it was mean-embarrassing, not funny-embarrassing.) Chuck told me to take a minute. I did. I said that there was nothing I could say about my husband that didn't also incriminate me. He asked if my husband had any scars. He asked about vacations. I accepted these writer-prompts and began free-associating. And then we landed on something.

Chuck's eyebrows raised, and he asked for clarification. I gave it. Smiling, he signed the book, with detailed references, ending it with the single word, Dude!

And then, having thoroughly incriminated both myself and my husband, I collected the book, and asked someone to take our photo. The expression of laughter on Chuck's face is pretty much the one he had through my entire confession. I look good because I'm vaguely flushed with embarrassment instead of my usual shade of pasty white.

(Sadly, that is as big as the photo gets, for inexplicable reasons only understood by my cell phone. It swears it took the photo at the largest resolution, and yet the image is practically thumbnail-sized. Sigh.)

His keynote speech was f---ing brilliant, and I will post a link as soon as Grub Street puts the recording on their website. At Q&A time, I asked What is on your bedside table right now? He thought for a while, laughed again, and answered, Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. Apparently he'll have a book coming out next year, called DAMNED, about an 11-year-old girl who wakes up in Hell, isn't quite sure why she's there, but is determined to make the most of it.

I eventually got a signature for myself on a copy of Haunted (since he'd gotten a 2-for-1 embarrassing story, I figured I ought to get a second book signed... my inscription is tame, and references the fact that I'm at this moment also trying to write a story set in Hell). He said he hoped I wouldn't get in trouble over the other book. I said that I was sure I would, and thanked him for his time.

Mr. Palahniuk, it was an absolute delight meeting you.

No, blog readers, you can't know what I told him, or what the rest of the inscription says. Sometimes, what you tell the author of Fight Club stays with the author of Fight Club.

Unless he decides to write about it. Oh, crap...

ETA: Let me clarify that (1) no one and nothing was harmed in the events described to Chuck Palahniuk, and (2) it was not "I would never do that again" embarrassing, it was "I would almost certainly do that again, but I don't usually tell people about it" embarrassing.

One-Word Fun

Yat-Yee, thanks for thinking of me! SO bizarre... I logged into Blogger early Friday afternoon, thinking, "What should I write about on Monday? I should plan ahead for once. Let's see what the other bloggers are doing. Hey, maybe someone gave me one of those awards where I have to answer questions..." and then I clicked on your post. Sweet!

The rules: Answer the following questions with single word answers then pass this along to 5 other bloggers. Simple enough!

Your Cell Phone? Tempermental
Your Hair? Reddish
Your Mother? Opinionated
Your Father? Reserved
Your Favorite Food? Unagi
Your Dream Last Night? Cinematic
Your Favorite Drink? Milk
Your Dream/Goal? Happiness
What Room Are You In? Office
Your Hobby? Dance
Your Fear? Needles
Where Do You See Yourself In Six Years? Older
Where Were You Last Night? Bed
Something That You Aren't? Tall
Muffins? Cranberry
Wish List Item? Air
Where Did You Grow Up? NYC
Last Thing You Did? Breakfast
What Are You Wearing? Pyjamas
Your TV? Internet
Your Pets? Finches
Friends? Yes
Your Life? Good (photo)
Your Mood? Improving
Missing Someone? Nope
Vehicle? T
Something You Aren't Wearing? Makeup
Your Favorite Store? Etsy
Your Favorite Color? Gray
When Was The Last Time You Laughed? Daily
Last Time You Cried? Forgotten
Your Best Friend? Husband
One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? Maine (photo)
Facebook? Occasionally
Favorite Place To Eat? Home

I'm going to post now (before Blogger eats the post again, dammit) and come back later to choose the five people I'll pass this on to... I'll do a separate post with links and all that good stuff. In the meantime:

PICK ONE QUESTION AND ANSWER IT IN THE COMMENTS!

Tag! I'm it!

Voidwalker tagged me with 26 questions last week, which I will now answer! And at the end of this post, I'll tag two more people, RANDOMLY CHOSEN from the list of blogs I'm following. (Which, by the way, is over 300 now, so don't feel bad if I don't pick you. Keeping up with my internet social groups is just brutal.) And if I pick you, but you don't have time to answer, that's totally cool. Or, you can answer, but not pass it along. Whatever suits you.

TWENTY-SIX QUESTIONS

1. What's the last thing you wrote? What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?

Last completed work: Birthday (flash fiction).

First thing: I dunno, go ask my parents. We keep everything. I would have been super-young. The first thing I wrote that I remember other people being impressed by was a short poem about a donkey that I wrote in elementary school, that was inspired by Juan Ramón Jiménez's book, Platero and I. (Hey, turns out it was the 1956 Nobel Prize Winner for Literature! I had no idea.)

2. Write poetry?

See #1. Not in a very long while. But yes. The last poem I wrote was probably written in the mid-to-late 1990s.

3. Angsty poetry?

"Angsty" sounds a little judgmental to me. Let's say that it ranged from the lyrical to the emotional.

4. Favorite genre of writing?

To read or to write? I apparently have written a kind of lit-fic-chick-lit hybrid for my first novel, and I read just about anything, but there's a noticeably large amount of sci fi/fantasy/horror on our shelves.

5. Most annoying character you've ever created?

I'm working on one now, and I just don't think the fictionalized version of this woman will EVER be as annoying as the real thing. Ah, well.

6. Best plot you've ever created?

Character is plot. I think Dani Kobayashi is pretty darn awesome.

7. Coolest plot twist you've ever created?

Oh, no. Forget it. No spoilers.

Wait, now people are going to expect some kind of amazing Usual Suspects /Sixth Sense thing to happen in my book. I don't write thrillers, so I don't write "plot twists" like other authors might. But some things happen that surprise my characters, and I want them to surprise the reader, too.

8. How often do you get writer's block?

Writer's block is too glamorous a title: I get stuck a lot. A LOT. I'm working on it.

9. Write fan fiction?

Nah. I've never had the urge to use other people's characters.

10. Do you type or write by hand?

Mostly type. I think I've done some of my best work by hand, but the muscles tire easily. I should probably write longhand more, to build up my strength...

11. Do you save everything you write?

Again, see #1. Yes. I don't know where it all is, but unless it was on a corrupted disk or a crashed hard drive, I still have it somewhere.

12. Do you ever go back to an idea after you've abandoned it?

I never officially abandon ideas, I simply set them aside until they're ready. So, yes.

13. What's your favorite thing you've ever written?

I'm pretty chuffed about having written a novel.

14. What's everyone else's favorite story that you've written?

You know, I never asked. Very few people get to read more than one thing, anyway; my crit partners have tended to be for one project (or one class) at a time. Ask me again in a few years.

15. Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?

No. Well, maybe I did some angsty teen writing when I was an angsty teen, but it wouldn't have been intentional.

16. What's your favorite setting for your characters?

Places in which I have lived or traveled. I don't like to make up settings.

17. How many writing projects are you working on right now?

Two. No, wait, three. Yes, three.

18. Have you ever won an award for your writing?

I think I won some stuff in high school/college. Nothing noteworthy.

19. What are your five favorite words?

Floccinaucinihilipilification.

Eleemosynary.

Proleptic.

Rasbliutto.

[Redacted.]

You can easily look up the first 3 yourselves online, but the fourth one is harder to find. It's "the feeling you have for someone you used to be in love with, but aren't anymore."

20. What character have you created that is most like yourself?

All my characters are me... and none of them are me. Dani and I would hit it off, for sure.

21. Where do you get ideas for your characters?

Life. Plenty of my characters are composites of real people. The only person I've ever tried to fictionalize in her entirety is that really annoying one mentioned in #5, and it's not working, so I obviously need to mix it up a little, get some other personalities in there as well.

22. Do you ever write based on your dreams?

No. Well, maybe imagery makes it in, but not plot.

23. Do you favor [books with] happy endings?

(Yes, I changed the question to sound less pornographic.) I like a satisfying ending. "Happy" is relative.

24. Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?

Yes. YES. Spelling and grammar matter. Punctuation matters. Including during the first draft. I think I may have missed my calling as a copyeditor...

25. Does music help you write?

No, I usually find it distracting.

26. Quote something you've written. Whatever pops into your head.

Okay, here's the first sentence (first paragraph, as well) of that recently-finished flash fiction piece I mentioned in the answer to question #1:

The day Zoe was born, her parents forgot about her.

That's it! And, the random tagees are:

Tara at The Bloodcrossed Writer

Melissa at Grosvenor Square

On my bookshelf

Kansas City has the coolest library EVER.

You asked, I'm answering! (Questions about my former acting career will be answered on Friday, you vultures.)

Julie and Shelby asked if I had any favorite cookbooks and/or any unique, un-fashionable, non-obvious books on my shelves that I could share with you.

First, I basically don't cook. At all. I mean, I can cook to the extent that I can follow directions, but I don't like experimenting, risk-taking, or multi-tasking in the kitchen. I like baking, where I can just assemble the dish and stick it in the oven. Having lots of dishes on the stove at the same time panics me a little. So, I like Seriously Simple (hey! they have a holiday cookbook! thanks for asking the question, guys, or I would have had no idea!) and selected dishes from the Williams Sonoma cookbooks -- the older, more basic ones that have titles like PASTA and POTATOES, not the "new flavors" or "foods of the world" ones. And I love Japanese Women Don't Get Old Or Fat because on page 200, there is a recipe for the Perfect Bowl of Noodles. I don't normally link to Google reader because of all the legal issues, but I will trust you to use it wisely, and BUY the book if you like the recipe. I use udon noodles instead of soba; I use instant dashi instead of homemade (which means you don't need the bonito flakes); I skip the sake, scallions, mitsuba, and tempura; and it is hands-down the best noodle bowl I've had outside of Japan. It took me FOREVER to find this recipe.

As for some of the less predictable stuff on my shelves... well, naturally I'm going to list non-fiction first, because as a wanna-be writer, I'm of course expected to have an enormous range of novels on my shelves.

There's A Guide to Greek Traditions and Customs in America by Marilyn Rouvelas (y'all know my husband's Greek, right?)... and there's A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters (y'all know I was born in Tokyo, right?) which provides a detailed etymology of nearly 2,000 kanji and has spectacular appendixes for looking up the characters by pronunciation or by number of brush strokes...

I highly recommend The Lawyer Who Blew Up His Desk for any attorneys in your life... and from my childhood, there is the fantastic Great Pets! which has pet-care advice for everything from dogs and rabbits to geese, ferrets, and snakes. They don't cover chinchillas, which was a bit disappointing for me when I got a chinchilla in college, but if you can't decide whether you want a skunk or a tarantula, this is the book for you.

Poetry: I am apparently still the only person on LibraryThing who owns Colmez Astre's Poésie française: anthologie critique, which is a shame, because if you read French at all, it's one of the best anthologies I've come across.

Graphic novels: Has everyone here read Transmet? For the love of all that is holy, get yourself a copy of the full series IMMEDIATELY.

Audiobooks: I'm not normally a fan of abridged works, but the audiobook of World War Z is genius. Even my mom agrees. And it's not a surprise that I like Stephen King, but I have to give a shout-out to Ron McLarty's reading of Salem's Lot, because it's just masterful.

Fiction: I don't know if I have any surprising fiction. I have uber-popular books like Harry Potter, "required reading" books like Moby Dick and Les Miserables, literary fiction like Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, tons of sci-fi/fantasy, plenty of YA (check out Godless)... and that's just the stuff that's in this room. We also have a storage locker filled with books that we try to rotate stuff in and out of.

Probably the most surprising thing for many would be my lack of any classic women's Brit Lit. No Jane Austen, no Bronte sisters. I can't stand any of it.

Tomorrow: lessons learned from tonight's class on "Obsessive Writing"!

Big Think

Post subtitle: In which I turn into a squee-ing fangirl

I hereby give my undying thanks to Nathan Bransford for linking to the Big Think Interview with John Irving. Give it a listen; it's the most wonderful half hour ever.

Nathan linked to it because Irving expressed sympathy for young writers, but I'm linking to it because I think he says some amazing things about how he writes (and rewrites), about recurring themes in his work, and about his own literary inspirations. Also, because he's my favorite living author, and my admiration for him and his work is overwhelming... he just takes my breath away.

When was the last time you revisited the authors who make your heart skip? It has been way too long for me. I've been doing my how-to-get-published research and I love my copies of On Writing and Bird by Bird and I've been reading plenty of entertaining novels because (1) they're in my genre and I need to learn about what's happening in my area of publishing right now, or (2) a friend wrote it, or (3) it's a genre I don't write in, and I'm trying to expand my horizons...

But what about the novels that don't just entertain, but have actually moved me? The books that changed my life? When was the last time I reread those? It's so easy to get distracted.

John Irving moves me. And getting to hear him... scratch that. Getting to see him, talking directly to the camera as though it was a private writing class just for me, is making my heart flutter again.

He talks about how he writes the last line of his novels first, and then uses that as a kind of touchstone to help him guide the story towards its final destination. I write my last lines very early on in the process as well.

He talks about writing all his first drafts in longhand. I only write longhand intermittently, but in retrospect I'm starting to realize that many of my best scenes, the ones that hardly needed any editing at all, were written longhand in their first draft.

He talks about consciously taking the elements he admired from writers like Melville and trying to recreate certain aspects of that kind of storytelling in his own writing. Why the hell am I not doing exactly this with Irving's books?

I think I've been afraid. I think I haven't been daring enough. I think I was thinking too small. I am in awe of books with grand scope, and I have consciously thought "I could never do anything this good" after reading novels like Franzen's The Corrections, and Irving's The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules.

But I haven't even tried.

Don't get me wrong, I still I love my first novel. And in many other ways, it is quite ambitious. Another book that I love, Commencement, was described on the back cover as "hitting the sweet spot between Serious Literature and chick lit" and that is what I have been saying I want to do...

But I think maybe I've been spending too much time trying to make peace with the "chick lit" label (it's not all about shopping porn and desperately seeking Mr. Right!), and not enough time making sure that my writing shines a little more brightly on the Serious Literature side of things.

I didn't set out to write chick lit, it just -- apparently -- is. From a strictly industry perspective, that's the category for a first-person female narrative with a confidential tone. It just is. And so I'll embrace it for that novel (at least until I find an agent who "gets me" and can help me figure out if that's the right label going forward). But actively planning to write another "chick lit" novel because of all that stuff I've been reading about the importance of brand for new authors... I think that's a mistake for me. If it is, it is. But genre -- any genre -- isn't something I should be aiming for. I need to find my next story in another way, and I'll have to trust that my author's voice will be enough of a brand.

I've been very scared of writing my second book because I wasn't sure if I'd find material that means as much to me as the material in the first novel does. And I have something that I've been idly working on, and I'd hoped NaNoWriMo would jumpstart it into something bigger, just like the first book. But I don't think the extra keyboard/typing time is going to do it. I think I need more thinking time. More outlining and handwriting with my fountain pen and legal pad.

I'm intimidated as hell. But I've got my new John Irving in hardcover, and I'm getting the rest of his books out of the back shelves and onto my desk front-and-center. I'm going to raise my aspirations. I may fail, and I hope you'll all stick with me if it turns out that I am a "small writer" and this experiment ends up going horribly wrong.

I have to try.

Because I'm pretty sure that's why I started writing in the first place.

John Irving and Kurt Vonnegut.

*brain explodes*

ETA: additional John Irving amazingness here.

Further Secrets Revealed

And we have more questions!

Jen Chandler asked: If you could get pulled into any book, unable to come back to your world until the end of the story, which one would you choose and why? Bonus question: What would you do while you were there?

• My first thought was that I needed to pick a book that only lasted a day, so that I could come home to my daughter… but that ruins some of the fun, so I'll assume that this is the kind of magic where even though I feel like I’ve been gone for the length of the book, in real life it’s only been seconds.

Then I figured I shouldn’t waste the opportunity on some contemporary novel when I could go into a totally mystical realm. After all, I spent a decent amount of my early teenage years making up stories where I inserted myself into the Xanth and Dragonlance worlds. (Don’t ask me how I ended up writing chick lit. I grew up immersed in sci-fi/fantasy/horror, but for whatever reason, my love of reading it has not translated into a desire to write it.)

Still, I feel that I’ve spent as much time as I need to in Middle Earth and Xanth and some of the more classic realms. The authors gave us multiple books, told the best stories, and I think I’m pretty well satisfied.

So, I’m going to go with Felix Gilman’s Thunderer. The story is set in an “unmappable” city, enormous and ever-changing, and full of gods. The story is a blast, but part of the point of the novel is that there is so much going on, it can’t all ever be told. In lots of books, the best part of entering the world would be to follow your favorite character around, right? Well, in this book, the city IS a character. I would wander the streets, and in particular I would try to collect information on as many of the city’s religions as I could. If you read it, you’ll know why.

Natalie asked: What are your ten favorite books (or ten books that you really like--it's hard to choose favorites)?

That's a brutal question, you know that, right? Okay. Here we go. Ten books I really like.

1. The Collected Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway
2. The Cider House Rules by John Irving
3. The Heidi Chronicles by Wendy Wasserstein
4. How To Be Good by Nick Hornby
5. Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan
6. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
7. Lisey's Story by Stephen King
8. La Chute (The Fall) by Albert Camus
9. Noble House by James Clavell
10. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
    

Caroline Starr Rose asked: Did the idea spring from your own unique name? I'd love to hear the story of your name. T. Anne also wanted to know more.

• Growing up with a Japanese middle name definitely played a role in creating this novel; I've always been so proud of it, and I've always found names to be fascinating.

• My first name was picked because my parents just liked it. They were briefly worried that "Carrie" (rather than Caroline) was too much of a nickname, but then decided that if it was a serious enough full name for a historical figure like Carrie Nation, I'd be fine. All through my childhood, though, I was constantly asked what it was "short for."

• My middle name honors my birthplace, Tokyo, and my maternal grandmother, Kay (short for Katherine). My parents chose the pronunciation first ("Kei" is pronounced the same as "Kay") and then found out there were dozens of different kanji with the same sound, all with different meanings. They chose the one that means joy and congratulations, and it can be seen in my profile pic.

• I have a two-word unhyphenated last name. Heim is my family name (German), and Binas is my husband's family name (Greek). Yasou!
  

Julie asked: My question is if anyone ever recognizes you from your childhood movies?

• As you already read in the comments... sometimes! And I still get around 6-10 fan emails a year, and they're usually lovely.
  

Sarah just dropped in to torment me.

Baby Power Dyke asked: What is your favourite question to ask when meeting new people? What is your favourite letter? If you had to choose an animal to be, which animal would you choose?

• Drat. I obviously need to be stepping up my social game, because apparently discussing the weather with new people is not going to cut it. Okay, here's the question I'm going to START asking people: "Vampires or zombies?"

• I'm fond of several letters, actually.

• And I think I'd like to be this animal for a while. He looks comfy.
  

Jungle Mom asked: How many languages do you speak?

• Fluently? Just the one. I also have advanced French, advanced-beginner Japanese, and introductory Greek... but school-taught language is never the same as when you live in the country for an extended period of time or have native family, you know?

Sandy asked: Team Aniston or Team Jolie?

• Angelina Jolie. You could put pretty much anyone on the other side of that equation, and I'd pick Team Jolie. I mean... come ON.
  

The Writing T asked: If you could go into any one story and completely change it what would that story be? And what would you do?

• This is a tough question because, if I love a story, I don’t want to change it, because even if a beloved character dies, it’s well-written and RIGHT and the way it’s supposed to be. And if I don’t like a story, then I don’t usually spend that much time thinking about how to fix it, I just move on. As much as I love editing, I’d rather write something of my own from scratch than try to repair something hideously flawed written by someone else.

Okay, here’s one. I hate the children’s book Eloise. I think she’s a vile brat and that nothing nice should ever happen to her. I would rewrite that book to make Eloise a terrifying cautionary tale. Edward Gorey, anyone?

Tomorrow: closure on our October poll

Mysteries Revealed!

Okay, maybe not THAT mystery...

Thank you to everyone who commented yesterday! Your inquiries will now be answered:

Amy asked: If you were a book character (outside of your own), who would you be?

• Hermione Granger. Smart, beautiful, and magic-wielding. What's not to like? (Don't tell me she's not beautiful. Have you seen Emma Watson?)
  

Marybeth Poppins asked: Can you roll your tongue? Have you ever sat on a donkey? Did it smell bad? How long have you been writing....wait that's kinda boring... If you could write a story about lamp posts knowing it would get published would you want to include your favorite street sign?

• Not really, although I can kind of fold it.
• I have never sat on a donkey, but I hope to convince my daughter to ride an elephant with me this weekend at the Topsfield Fair. I'll report back about the smell.
  
• Too many answers to the writing question! Somewhere my parents have a "novel" that I wrote in elementary school (main character had the same name as me, was smart, and had magical powers... and possibly a dragon, but I don't really remember) and I took tons of creative writing classes in high school and college, and I submitted some poems to magazines back in 2002, but I didn't start a real novel until 2005's NaNoWriMo, and I started thinking seriously about publication in 2006.
• There's an awesome photo of my husband and me on our wedding day under a lamppost with the Wall St. sign on it in NYC, so I think I'd have to write about that one.

Sierra Godfrey said: I want to know more about your novel. What's it about? What's the status of it?

• Here's my back-of-the-book summary for In Name Only (current working title):

What's in a name? Just ask Dani Kobayashi, a 26-year-old graphic artist of Irish and Russian descent who must constantly explain her Japanese surname. A designer of calling cards and other personalized stationery, Dani can tell you the origin and meaning of any name she comes across. She has an apartment in Manhattan, a career plan, and a comfortable relationship with her boyfriend. But when Dani discovers she is accidentally pregnant, she starts questioning her path in life, and ultimately learns that her identity is much more than just 13 letters.

• The novel is still at the query stage... there are still five agents who requested partial or full manuscripts who have not gotten back to me. Remember how back in July I said that I have a ninja manuscript? Remember how I said that pretty much only one agency hadn't misplaced my manuscript, probably because I sent a hard copy? Yeah, well, I recently did another round of follow-up calls, and that hard copy went missing, too. They accepted a resend by email, and promised to get back to me in a few weeks. I am trying to remain patient and zen about this.

Andrew Jack asked: where do you see yourself in five years?

• Sorry, I've been rendered temporarily stupid at the thought of my daughter eventually being 7-and-a-half years old... okay, I'm back. I don't know if this was intended to be an aspirational question (where do you hope to be?) or more realistic (where do you expect to be?) but I'll say that in 5 years I really do think that In Name Only will have been published, and I hope it will be just the first in a career of writing a novel every 1-2 years.

• I also hope that I'll have found an amazing part-time or reasonable-hours attorney position where I can continue to do the legal research and writing that I love, preferably for a cause I care about... I love writing fiction, but I also love the law, and I'd hate to give it up entirely. (I tell other litigators that I'm a research monkey at heart, and in our field that includes the writing as well.) If writing really takes off for me, maybe I'll just do pro bono work on the side for fun.

Thanks again for your questions, and I hope the answers provided you with the information you were seeking!

Now, I know that some of my favorite bloggers are not online every single Thursday (especially those of you with M-W-F posting schedules), so just in case you missed it yesterday, I'm going to let today be round two of Ask Me Anything!

Go nuts in the comments, guys, and I'll answer on Monday.

I'm on a roll!

Award #2. Awwww, yeah.

Thanks to Melody of Newly Minted Mrs. for the honor! Melody and I know each other from a chat room (of sorts), and I'm SO glad she's blogging now.

So, in accordance with the rules of the award, here are 10 "insightful truths" about myself:

1. I am a bird person, but if asked to pick between cat and dog, I will pick dog.
2. I have been terrified of injections/needles ever since a traumatic series of allergy tests at age 9 or so. I have had dental work done without anesthesia because I'm more scared of needles than I am of drills.
3. On the other hand, I have no fear of heights. My husband may never forgive me for insisting on bungee-jumping during our honeymoon. (It was awesome. I would do it again in a heartbeat.)
4. At some point in every law job I've ever had, someone has said, "since you used to act, you should be great in the courtroom!" Um, acting is scripted. I have no stage fright, but that doesn't mean I magically know how to cross-examine a witness in a securities or IP case without hours of practice.
5. Favorite books: The Cider House Rules by John Irving, and How To Be Good by Nick Hornby. Favorite plays: The Heidi Chronicles by Wendy Wasserstein, and Burn This by Lanford Wilson. Favorite short stories: The Short Happy Life of Francis MacComber by Ernest Hemingway, and Pop Art by Joe Hill.
   
6. Evidence of being a late bloomer: I'm 35, and I still I don't know how to drive and have never had a driver's license. I also didn't get my ears pierced until I was 23.
7. If I could have one magic talent, it would be the ability to understand and speak every language in the world. Or at the very least, French, Japanese, and Greek.
   
8. I have very little ability to filter for privacy. I will never be a woman of mystery. I kind of just... share.
9. Similarly, I have very little filtering for people of authority. I'm not inappropriately casual, but it honestly has never occurred to me to hide what I think about something just because I'm talking to my boss.
10. I'm worried these aren't "insightful" enough.

I'm going to be a bad blogger now, and punt on passing the torch; picking 5 bloggers two days ago was demanding enough, I don't think I can pick more... Instead, I would adore it if you would all leave a single insightful truth about yourself in the comments. Let the sharing begin!