As part of Still Moments Publishing’s anniversary celebration, they are interviewing various Still Moments Authors. Please feel free to click on the link to see my interview along with the other wonderful authors. I’ve also posted my interview below. http://stillmomentspub.blogspot.com/2012/05/getting-to-know-shannon-obrien.html
Monday, May 14, 2012
Getting To Know Shannon O’Brien
1. What did you want to be when you were twelve years old? After seeing Jaws 3D, I wanted to be a marine biologist and swim with dolphins. It hasn’t come true (yet) but for two years I volunteered at Friends of the Sea Lions in Laguna Beach, CA, rescuing and rehabilitating injured seals and sea lions. It was awesome!
2. What do you often eat for your breakfast? I love Snoqualmie Falls Lodge oatmeal (from Washington State) but just discovered Irish steel cut oatmeal. A little butter, a little brown sugar and a handful of Craisin’s and I’m all set.
3. What was the last book you read? I’m currently working my way through George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series (fell in love with the HBO series and just had to have more), so I recently finished the second book (A Clash of Kings) and I’m halfway through the third one (A Storm of Swords). I’m not one for fantasy books, but these stories have everything a girl could ask for: knights, dragons, adventures, good and bad kings, good and bad queens, battles (okay, my eyes get a little glossy when I read the fight scenes), love, deception and of course…good vs. evil.
4. What was the last movie you went to see?
The Hunger Games…of course! I ate up those books like a man getting his first taste of water after a week in the Sahara. And the movie didn’t disappoint, although my siblings and I had to have a “book club” moment in the lobby after we exited the theatre to discuss the differences between the film and the books.
5. How many hats are in your house? We have a gazillion baseball hats…and one black fedora. Yes, I admit it. I own the fedora…but it has skulls and crossbones on it. Just sayin’.
6. If we came to your home and looked in your refrigerator, what would we find? I have two small boys, a husband, a dog and a cat so heaven only knows what you’d find. Most likely hot dogs, mac and cheese, milk, juice, cheese, yogurt and an opened can of dog food covered with saran wrap. It’s sad to say, but my fridge is pretty boring.
7. Do you install toilet paper so that you pull from the top or the bottom of the roll? The rules of the house are the flap goes over the top. Strike that. The rules of the house are Mommy is the only one to change the empty toilet paper roll. I’m not OCD or anything.
8. If you could choose to be any food, what would it be, and why? I would love to be spaghetti. Long. Slim. Saucy.
9. If you were an animal what kind of animal would you be, and why? I watch a lot of Nature and NOVA and Animal Planet, and I just found out that some bowhead whales in the Arctic are over two hundred years old! One washed up with an 1800’s whaling spear lodged in its blubber. I think I’d want to be a bowhead whale so I could outlive my stupid predators.
10. If you were a car, what kind would you be? I’m finishing up [writing] a paranormal thriller novel (Lives of Ghosts) where the sexy and pompous lawyer speeds around Seattle in his little black Porsche Boxster Spyder convertible. But I’d be pink and only put my top down for those hot Italian cars…and only during those six weeks the sun comes out in the Pacific Northwest.
11. If you were a Star Trek or Star Wars character, which one would you be, and why? I love Star Trek and Star Wars but I don’t know who I relate to. First, I’m a girl. There are not a lot of girl characters in those shows/movies – although Princess Leah and Uhura were pretty kick-ass. I guess I would be a mix of the logical Spock (I’m always looking for answers) and Han Solo (I’m always getting in to/causing trouble).
12. If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional with whom would it be, and why? You know, I really don’t pine to be anyone else. I have it good. I have a great family and love writing. But I do often catch myself wondering what it would be like to be Stephenie Meyer. She was just a mom. She wrote a story based on a dream. And then her book took off. Then she consulted with the production of Twilight. And then she became a producer on the subsequent Saga movies. What must that be like to watch your dream become a reality? What must that be like to live modestly and then becoming successful? I could probably dig being Stephenie for a week (just make sure it’s during a red carpet event, okay?).
13. If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be? I’d like my superpower to be never getting tired. I have waaaay too much to do. However, I get a lot of inspiration from my dreams, so maybe add sleep/wake on demand and retain all my freaky dreams. Imagine all the wonderful books I could write!
14. If you won $10 million in the lottery, what would you do with the money? Buy a floating home on Lake Union in Seattle. Then tour the world. My bucket list is long.
15. Where would you go if you had a time machine?
Certainly not back to the past…I already know what happened. But probably in to the future to see how things turned out (the environment, my family, etc.).
16. What is the most embarrassing situation you have had? There are just too many to name. I’m quite gullible and tend to fall for pranks way too easily. But once, I went to NYC when I was 15 to visit a friend. Being prudent, I wore sneakers and when she took me to the Russian Tea Room, the waiter asked me to step to the side and try on their spare shoes due to their strict dress code. Needless to say, we didn’t stay for tea.
17. If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?
I loved Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones’s Diary. I’m about as neurotic and dopey as Bridget, so Renee would have no problem playing me.
18. If you were written about in the newspaper, on today’s front page, what would the headline say? Shannon O’Brien, Seattle’s hot new author, talks trash about Fifty Shades of Grey’s blatant bootlegging. (I told you, I’m a trouble maker)
Thank you for stopping by The Author’s Den. It was a pleasure to chat with you. Do you have a web site or blog where we can learn more about you?
Shannon O’Brien: https://shannonobrienauthor.wordpress.com/