THE INTERVIEW

Dare I shoot random and odd questions at the Mighty Thor? Yes!

Though come to think of it I should probably wait until after he’s finished reading my book, Beyond Redemption. Ah, well. Caution and assorted other things to the wind!

Q: So, Thor, a dude blogging about books who isn’t themselves a writer. That’s just strange. What brought this on? Is this a sneaky way to get publishers to send you free books? If it is, it’s genius. I really should have thought of that.

A: Yeah, so yeah free books. I don’t know. My love of reading lead me to putting little reviews on Goodreads and Amazon for books I was reading. Then I started doing more research on what to read and found some great blogs. Then I thought That might be fun, so I started a blog. I find I need to keep my brain busy to keep my Doppels from taking over. In truth It has helped me stay somewhat normal over the past seven months. It has given me a little escape when life has got me down, and life has been trying to get me for months now it seems. I am just having fun, sharing my opinions on books. Then there are the free books!

Q: Each and every book a publisher sends you is a tiny piece of someone’s soul. Except Beyond Redemption; I’m a soulless Slaver-Type Gefahrgeist bent on world domination. How do you handle reviews for books you don’t like? Are you willing to eviscerate someone?

A: Well to be honest I try to only read books I think I am going to like. I do my research before I read and only request books that seem will fit my taste. That said I really have not read a book I have not liked at least on some level in quite a while. I am sure it will happen sooner or later and when it does I will drop my Mjölnir with extreme prejudice. (probably not but it sounded cool). Do your Slaver-Type Gefahrgeist powers work though the internet? Because I swear I had it in my head that I did not want to do this interview or read your your book for that matter. But then I thought How much I want to please you. Wait what the…………..

Q: The blogosphere has become clogged with fantasy reviewers and bloggers and Odin wants you to thin the herd, send one screaming to Valhalla. Which of your fellow bloggers would be the most interesting opponent, and why?

A: Wow that is a good question. I think it should be a cage match with a few bloggers I admire and at the same time want to take down because I am jealous of their blogs. I wanna call out Wendell over at http://bookwraiths.com/ , Mogsy over at http://bibliosanctum.com/ and Lisa at http://www.tenaciousreader.com/ . If I ever did a podcast I would have to battle Rob at http://thegrimtidingspodcast.podbean.com/ . Alright everybody lets do this!

Q: Peanut butter or Nutella?

A: Peanut butter. even better, Peanut butter mixed with caramel sauce over vanilla ice cream! Not a chocolate fan.

Q: How angry are you that Firefly got cancelled?

A: I know everybody is going to hate me for this but, not very. I have never watched it. Don’t watch much TV.

Q: On a scale of 1 to 11, how metal are you? Ever caught your child head-banging to Sylosis in the back seat?

A: I was going to say 11 but then I thought, you know I have never carved a bands name into my skin or anything so maybe 9. My 6 year old son wants to listen to Amon Amarth every morning on the way to school. Twilight of the Thunder God on repeat, and then a few more times!

Q: What was the band that got you into metal? What is your favourite classic metal band (and if it isn’t Iron Maiden, defend your choice or die!) and what is your favourite current metal band?

A: Ah I remember it like it was yesterday, I was an impressionable 12 year old back in 1984, and some dude say’s hey listen to this. Morbid Tales by Celtic Frost. This doesn’t look like something I should be listening to. I must listen! Music was never the same after that. My classic metal band is Black Sabbath. Symptom of the Universe is my jam! My defense is simple, Ozzy. My current band is the aforementioned Amon Amarth because, metal with lyrics about vikings, nuff said!

Q: My father is an evil genius. This is actually literally true. But that’s a discussion for another time. He started reading Lord of the Rings to me when I was a little kid (maybe eight years old). And then just when it got exciting he said he was too busy, dropped the book in my lap, and told me to read it myself. What book got you into fantasy? What was it about the book that hooked you?

A: I remember having to read The Hobbit in school and thinking what is this. Then I read it and was like what the F, why did nobody tell me they make books with dragons and a dude who is a bear and big eagles you can ride on (I always liked animals). The imagination of it all struck me. It taught me about using my imagination.