Q and A is always better than T and A

I get lots of questions from readers and on occassion I like to share the answers to those questions. Here are a few of the more recent ones:

I'm an avid reader of your blog and I wondered how do you know what's funny?

Well, it's not always easy to know what's funny. As a general rule I like to run my jokes by other people and gague their reactions. If they laugh, I use the joke. Sometimes though, I've only got myself to run jokes by, so I go with my gut. If I laugh a lot, I use it. If people don't think it's funny, then that's that. The nice thing about blogging is that you don't hear the responses from people (unless they comment - and very few of my reader's comment). So if people don't like it, I don't have to hear about it, and I can just move on to the next joke.

Since I consider you an expert in all things mythological and all things writing, what is your take on the current vampire/werewolf/other craze?

Thank you for this question. I'm not a big fan of all things werewolf/vampire/other right now (zombie included). I think that writers and media are exploiting these icons just to cash in on this craze. I think it's making these characters redundant and will use them up so quickly that one one will be interested in them for years to come. Kind of like when you really like hotdogs and you eat them all the time until you get to this point where you never want to eat another hotdog again. It also astounds me that as a rule most people are incredibly wrong in their portrayal of vamps and weres, but that's a discussion for another day. I will say though, that I've had my eye on a book series but was reluctant to get into it because of the vamp/were themes but finally picked it up and it looks promising. Moon Called, is the first book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. I like that the main character is a strong female, and the writing is good, so at this point (page 56) I think it's a good book and possibly a good series.But I must say that I did not get into the Twilight books, I don't watch True Blood or the Vampire Diaries because only some people write well and can work the vamps/weres into a good direction instead of it being over the top and redudant.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

The very first thing I can remember wanting to be was a comedian, I loved to make people laugh. But I quickly realized I couldn't stand up infront of crowds, so I started to pursue writing. While I wrote a lot growing up I didn't think of it as a career and spent time dreaming of being a paleontologist, a lawyer, a senator, possibly the president. Then I went to college and decided to be a writer. It's the easiest way I can make people laugh without getting embarrassed and it's something that has stuck with me for a long time. I like things that don't give up on me, and even though I've given up on writing a couple times over the past 20 years (I figure I wasn't writing until at least the age of 6) it has always been there waiting for me to pick up a pen and go at it again.