Interview Meme
this interview meme from thistlerose.
1. What's your book about?!??!?
I'm taking a common idea from fantasy--the power and omnipresence of destiny--and creating a world in which Destiny is, and, since pre-history, always has been, a real and corporeal (albeit supernatural) force. Life is very ordered. Things happen when they're supposed to happen, and because they're supposed to happen. Not a lot of chaos or surprises.
The entity of Destiny is not evil..but it's not good. It imposes order and destiny on the world to make its existence simpler, less risky and more convenient. Worlds, I should say, since it also influences the supernatural realm.
A woman whose entire homeland just HAD to die because Destiny said so gets angry. Violently angry. Destiny is old and complacent and not expecting this. Destiny dies.
Destiny's death affects...well, everything. Politics, weather, harvests, sanity, religion, the supernatural, diplomacy, personal relationships. Leaders who had a sense of destiny don't have it any more. Political alliances fall apart; the prophesied winners of wars can no longer count on Destiny to save them; magic is weakened in some ways (and strengthened in others that are chaotic and completely unfamiliar to most mages); a sect of people who serve Destiny as a deity wants to try the impossible and to create a new Destiny; the economy is damaged by the loss of people who made their living helping others attain their destinies; blame for the death flies everywhere; the unknown assassin, who only wants to rebuild her life in anonymity, is alternately vilified and lauded to the skies.
No one knows how to deal. Or if there's going to be a new Destiny. Or if the world can continue functioning. Or anything.
And some people figure, hey, superstition and just go on with their lives, and some panic, and some manipulate the panic. And of course there are rebels (and looters and crooks) who like the chaos and who don't want Destiny back under any circumstances. And there are people who had horrible destinies but don't anymore, and they think this is wonderful.
And the thing is, everyone is right. Because it all depends on your point of view. It's horrible, it's wonderful, it's an opportunity, it's a pain in the butt.
It's fascinating. I'm loving every minute of this.
2. Supposing I were to swing by and announce that I was your chauffeur for
the day. Where would we go?
Um...that's a good question. I don't know. Most places around here require a fair bit of walking or standing, and I'm not good at either. Ideally, I'd like to go somewhere that's open all night, like New York City, that has actual, public, non-reserved parking spaces, and that one can have fun while sitting down.
3. What is your favorite color?
I have two--blue and red.
4. If you had Albus Dumbledore by the beard, what would you do with him?
First I would do something to make his Legilimancy useless. Then I would put him under a Silencing Charm, then the Full-Body Bind. Then I would confiscate his wand. Then I would inject him with Veritaserum, remove the Full-Body Bind and the Silencing Charm so that he could talk, and implement Impedimenta or Locomotor Mortis so that he couldn't walk. (Why, yes, I AM suspicious of the old codger.)
Once he was under the influence of Veritaserum, I would demand to know why he so often endangers Harry or doesn't think about what's good for the people he is responsible for. I've disliked him since PoA and I hated him in OotP. He was
callous and cruel and downright manipulative. At this point I'm not even
sure what side he's on.
Look at what he does in PoA. In essence, he says to Harry and Hermione:
"Hey, kids! I know you're only thirteen-year-olds and I'm the ancient wizard who kicked Grindelwald's arse. But just for kicks, I'm going to send you two out onto the Hogwarts grounds, where there are a couple of suspected followers of Voldemort--one of whom is armed with an axe--who would just love to kill Harry, a werewolf who could kill or infect either or both of you, a traitor who betrayed Harry's parents and who knows Hogwarts and the grounds VERY well, since he attended school here for seven years, and has been living in Gryffindor again since, oh, Percy Weasley came here as a first year, and boy, let's not forget about all those Dementors wandering the grounds who would love to suck out your souls and turn the two of you into mindless husks! And don't forget to tamper with the space-time continuum! Go to it, kids!"
...I don't know, is it just me, or does that sound like a recipe for disaster? Harry got lucky--but if someone I knew had come up with that idea, I know what I would have said: "Are you TRYING to get him killed?"
And then there's his attitude toward emotions. He congratulates Harry for showing grief at Sirius's death. Isn't grief a normal emotion in cases of bereavement? And what was the point of keeping Sirius in Twelve Grimmauld Place all the time when he could see the negative effect it was having on the man's mind? Yes, Sirius was a fugitive. Yes, he was wanted by the Ministry. Uh, D'Dore--didn't you ever think of Polyjuice? You should have, since Death Eater Barty Crouch posed as Mad-Eye Moody for the entire school year. Given the existence of that potion, there is no reason why Sirius couldn't have gone outside disguised as someone else. (And I'm not going to even get into the fact that D'Dore didn't bother to try to get Sirius's name cleared once he knew the man was innocent. Sure, Sirius is good enough to work for the Order of the Phoenix and to give the Order the use of his family's house, but the Order isn't going to do anything for Sirius. Oh no.)
And then there's that whole business with the prophecy. Will someone please explain to me why Dumbledore let a supposed Seer whom he was interviewing for the position of Divination teacher choose, at the height of the First War with Voldemort, to be interviewed at a sleazy pub known for its dodgy characters? Didn't it occur to him that someone employed by Voldemort might be there--or that a Seer might suddenly be
struck by the impulse to prophesy? The whole situation smacks of a set-up.
It's too improbable that an intelligent and powerful wizard wouldn't think of these things. And yet he appears not to. Not only that, decision after decision of his puts Harry at risk--and Harry is the only one who can kill Voldemort. If Harry dies, Voldemort wins by default.
So if I've got the chance to ask D'Dore, I want to find out if he's evil, incompetent, insane or just plain lacking in common sense.
5. If I were to bake cookies this weekend (a real possibility, as I've added chocolate chips to the shopping list) would you like some? (No guarantee they'll be as good as the ones I made last time. The Cookie God smiled on me that day.)
Definitely! Cookies are always welcome.
If you want me to grill interview you...
1. Leave a comment saying you want to be interviewed.
2. I'll reply and give you five questions to answer.
3. You'll update your LJ with the five questions answered.
4. You'll include this explanation.
5. You ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.
1. What's your book about?!??!?
I'm taking a common idea from fantasy--the power and omnipresence of destiny--and creating a world in which Destiny is, and, since pre-history, always has been, a real and corporeal (albeit supernatural) force. Life is very ordered. Things happen when they're supposed to happen, and because they're supposed to happen. Not a lot of chaos or surprises.
The entity of Destiny is not evil..but it's not good. It imposes order and destiny on the world to make its existence simpler, less risky and more convenient. Worlds, I should say, since it also influences the supernatural realm.
A woman whose entire homeland just HAD to die because Destiny said so gets angry. Violently angry. Destiny is old and complacent and not expecting this. Destiny dies.
Destiny's death affects...well, everything. Politics, weather, harvests, sanity, religion, the supernatural, diplomacy, personal relationships. Leaders who had a sense of destiny don't have it any more. Political alliances fall apart; the prophesied winners of wars can no longer count on Destiny to save them; magic is weakened in some ways (and strengthened in others that are chaotic and completely unfamiliar to most mages); a sect of people who serve Destiny as a deity wants to try the impossible and to create a new Destiny; the economy is damaged by the loss of people who made their living helping others attain their destinies; blame for the death flies everywhere; the unknown assassin, who only wants to rebuild her life in anonymity, is alternately vilified and lauded to the skies.
No one knows how to deal. Or if there's going to be a new Destiny. Or if the world can continue functioning. Or anything.
And some people figure, hey, superstition and just go on with their lives, and some panic, and some manipulate the panic. And of course there are rebels (and looters and crooks) who like the chaos and who don't want Destiny back under any circumstances. And there are people who had horrible destinies but don't anymore, and they think this is wonderful.
And the thing is, everyone is right. Because it all depends on your point of view. It's horrible, it's wonderful, it's an opportunity, it's a pain in the butt.
It's fascinating. I'm loving every minute of this.
2. Supposing I were to swing by and announce that I was your chauffeur for
the day. Where would we go?
Um...that's a good question. I don't know. Most places around here require a fair bit of walking or standing, and I'm not good at either. Ideally, I'd like to go somewhere that's open all night, like New York City, that has actual, public, non-reserved parking spaces, and that one can have fun while sitting down.
3. What is your favorite color?
I have two--blue and red.
4. If you had Albus Dumbledore by the beard, what would you do with him?
First I would do something to make his Legilimancy useless. Then I would put him under a Silencing Charm, then the Full-Body Bind. Then I would confiscate his wand. Then I would inject him with Veritaserum, remove the Full-Body Bind and the Silencing Charm so that he could talk, and implement Impedimenta or Locomotor Mortis so that he couldn't walk. (Why, yes, I AM suspicious of the old codger.)
Once he was under the influence of Veritaserum, I would demand to know why he so often endangers Harry or doesn't think about what's good for the people he is responsible for. I've disliked him since PoA and I hated him in OotP. He was
callous and cruel and downright manipulative. At this point I'm not even
sure what side he's on.
Look at what he does in PoA. In essence, he says to Harry and Hermione:
"Hey, kids! I know you're only thirteen-year-olds and I'm the ancient wizard who kicked Grindelwald's arse. But just for kicks, I'm going to send you two out onto the Hogwarts grounds, where there are a couple of suspected followers of Voldemort--one of whom is armed with an axe--who would just love to kill Harry, a werewolf who could kill or infect either or both of you, a traitor who betrayed Harry's parents and who knows Hogwarts and the grounds VERY well, since he attended school here for seven years, and has been living in Gryffindor again since, oh, Percy Weasley came here as a first year, and boy, let's not forget about all those Dementors wandering the grounds who would love to suck out your souls and turn the two of you into mindless husks! And don't forget to tamper with the space-time continuum! Go to it, kids!"
...I don't know, is it just me, or does that sound like a recipe for disaster? Harry got lucky--but if someone I knew had come up with that idea, I know what I would have said: "Are you TRYING to get him killed?"
And then there's his attitude toward emotions. He congratulates Harry for showing grief at Sirius's death. Isn't grief a normal emotion in cases of bereavement? And what was the point of keeping Sirius in Twelve Grimmauld Place all the time when he could see the negative effect it was having on the man's mind? Yes, Sirius was a fugitive. Yes, he was wanted by the Ministry. Uh, D'Dore--didn't you ever think of Polyjuice? You should have, since Death Eater Barty Crouch posed as Mad-Eye Moody for the entire school year. Given the existence of that potion, there is no reason why Sirius couldn't have gone outside disguised as someone else. (And I'm not going to even get into the fact that D'Dore didn't bother to try to get Sirius's name cleared once he knew the man was innocent. Sure, Sirius is good enough to work for the Order of the Phoenix and to give the Order the use of his family's house, but the Order isn't going to do anything for Sirius. Oh no.)
And then there's that whole business with the prophecy. Will someone please explain to me why Dumbledore let a supposed Seer whom he was interviewing for the position of Divination teacher choose, at the height of the First War with Voldemort, to be interviewed at a sleazy pub known for its dodgy characters? Didn't it occur to him that someone employed by Voldemort might be there--or that a Seer might suddenly be
struck by the impulse to prophesy? The whole situation smacks of a set-up.
It's too improbable that an intelligent and powerful wizard wouldn't think of these things. And yet he appears not to. Not only that, decision after decision of his puts Harry at risk--and Harry is the only one who can kill Voldemort. If Harry dies, Voldemort wins by default.
So if I've got the chance to ask D'Dore, I want to find out if he's evil, incompetent, insane or just plain lacking in common sense.
5. If I were to bake cookies this weekend (a real possibility, as I've added chocolate chips to the shopping list) would you like some? (No guarantee they'll be as good as the ones I made last time. The Cookie God smiled on me that day.)
Definitely! Cookies are always welcome.
If you want me to grill interview you...
1. Leave a comment saying you want to be interviewed.
2. I'll reply and give you five questions to answer.
3. You'll update your LJ with the five questions answered.
4. You'll include this explanation.
5. You ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.