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What’s the silliest thing you did for the sake of rebellion?

(This is being hosted over at the new WotC Novels Book Club now!)

Elaine Cunningham(co-author of The City of Splendors): I fired BEFORE I saw the whites of their eyes. (Friend Elaine)

Ed Greenwood (author of The Sword Never Sleeps): Raced to the front of a classroom and imitated the teacher’s very bad vocal and vocabulary habits, knowing full well that the classroom door had a window in it and didn’t reach the floor, and that the teacher and principal would very soon be coming through that door—together. It was worth being the cool rebel for a week, instead of my usual role as Class Nerd.

Richard Baker (author of Avenger): Soaped the windows of my parents’ cars on Halloween. I couldn’t work up the nerve to vandalize the car of someone I didn’t know. (Friend Richard)

Mark Sehestedt (author of The Fall of Highwatch): 12^th grade. Pink hair. It was supposed to be purple, but things didn’t quite work out.

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You’re singing karaoke—what song do you choose?

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Elaine Cunningham(co-author of The City of Splendors): “Mi tradi quell’alma ingrata” from Don Giovanni. Hey, it could happen.  (Friend Elaine)

Ed Greenwood (author of The Sword Never Sleeps): Anything in the bass range, for crooners, that I can remember half the words to. I can sing, but I believe in being merciful, so I no longer do my Carol Channing “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” impersonation. People can hurt themselves trying to laugh and vomit simultaneously.

Richard Baker (author of Avenger): “Otherside” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, or maybe “Soul to Squeeze.” I can do Anthony Kiedis pretty well. (Friend Richard)

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Writing is not subjective. Sure, taste is subjective—I might personally like fantasy and abhor slapstick comedy—but a good reader can tell if a book is well written even if it is not to their taste.

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What do you like that most people hate?

(This is being hosted over at the new WotC Novels Book Club now!)

Elaine Cunningham(co-author of The City of Splendors): Brussels sprouts and Italian opera. (Friend Elaine)

Richard Baker (author of Avenger): Long, complicated, crunchy wargames. We used to play Advanced Third Reich and A World at War around the office every year or two. (Friend Richard)

Jak Koke (author of The Edge of Chaos): I like fixing computer problems. I like it when gasoline prices go up. (Friend Jak)

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Do you have a favorite D&D character?

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Ed Greenwood (author of The Sword Never Sleeps): I haven’t got one, and I’ve created thousands of them. Mirt the Moneylender and Storm Silverhand (yes, my creations) are both in the running, though.

Mark Sehestedt (author of The Fall of Highwatch): Ranger.

Richard Baker (author of Avenger): Ulwhe Talos-Spawn. I worked as the developer on the 3^rd Edition adventure City of the Spider Queen, by James Wyatt. James DM’d a playtest for several months, and I wanted to play in the game too. Of course I knew the adventure far too well, so I needed an excuse to play stupid. Unfortunately the party was already well-stocked with meat-shield types, so I really needed to be a spellcaster. Playing a stupid spellcaster seemed like a difficult challenge until I hit upon the idea of Ulwhe, the Spawn of Talos—fa megalomaniacal lightning-sorcerer who believed he was the son of the storm god Talos. Ulwhe would occasionally do things like waste disintegrate spells on doors that momentarily impeded his progress or decide to bludgeon weak foes to death with his staff, not deeming them worthy of his mighty powers. That was a fun campaign. (Friend Richard)

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Who is your favorite hero?

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Ed Greenwood (author of The Sword Never Sleeps): The shy, unassuming sort who steps up in crisis and does what he/she believes “any normal person would.” Except that most, of course, don’t.

Mark Sehestedt (author of The Fall of Highwatch): Again, just talking fictional . . . that’s quite a long list for me. But on the list you’ll find Frodo, Samwise, Gandalf, and Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings; Fiver and Hazel from Watership Down; Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird; Joe Pickett from the C.J. Box books; Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Repairman Jack, Veronica Mars, Batman, Peter Parker, Indiana Jones, Mr. Spock, Sarah Connor, and Ellen Ripley.

Richard Baker (author of Avenger): Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. I think I can get a 2-for-1 there. Swords of Lankhmar might be the single best fantasy novel ever written. If you’ve never read it, drop what you’re doing and read it immediately. (Friend Richard)

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What do you hate that most people like?

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Elaine Cunningham(co-author of The City of Splendors): The Beatles.  (Friend Elaine)

Ed Greenwood (author of The Sword Never Sleeps): A lot of recent pop music, and almost all reality television shows. I base the “most people” on the perceived sales and spread of such things; I very much doubt that “most people” includes “most sane people.”

Richard Baker (author of Avenger): Basketball. I’m a huge baseball and football fan, but as far as I’m concerned there are no sports played between the end of the Superbowl and baseball’s Opening Day. (Although I confess I am somewhat hockey-curious.) (Friend Richard)

Mark Sehestedt (author of The Fall of Highwatch): The Matrix. Worst. Movie. Ever. And I sat through Beaches!

Erin Evans (author of The God Catcher): Zombies. I really hate zombies. They are creepy and upsetting and I hate them. Fun fact: in Ancient Egyptian, if I recall correctly, the term for people from the Syrio-Palestine area was “vile Asiatics.” Never just “Asiatics.” Always “vile Asiatics” (apparently they didn’t get along). That’s like me and zombies: it’s taking all my effort not to stick an expletive in front of the word. (Friend Erin)

Jak Koke (author of The Edge of Chaos):I hate holidays that have become all about consumerism like Christmas. I hate SUVs. (Friend Jak)

Christopher Rowe (author of a story in Realms of the Dead): Again with the hate! Anyway, something I find deeply problematic that a lot of folks seem to like—or at least don't seem to ask enough questions about—are the novels Ender’s Game and its various sequels, prequels, and other cynical rehashes, with their child-abuse-as-plot-engine structures and their conflation of pathology and virtue. (Friend Christopher)

Richard Lee Byers (author of Unholy): Hate is too strong a word, but I thought Return of the Jedi was a disappointing movie, and the three more recent Star Wars movies were pretty awful.

Philip Athans (author of A Reader’s Guide to R.A. Salvatore’s Legend of Drizzt): Harry Potter. Honestly. Grow up, grown ups, and read grown up books. I do not hate kids who like kids’ books, but even then my own kids never really got into that whole harry Potter thing, either. And for the record they like all sorts of things that I don’t, and generally like stuff because I don’t like it. We may be the only Harry Potter-free family in the developed world right now. (Friend Philip)

Erik Scott de Bie (author of Downshadow): I absolutely cannot stand the taste of coffee, though I do like the smell. (Friend Erik)

Jaleigh Johnson (author of Mistshore): CSI and its assorted metropolitan offspring. (Friend Jaleigh)

Rosemary Jones (author of City of the Dead): Thai food or anything too spicy. Which is strange because I adored Thailand when I went there. Most beautiful country, sweetest people, but very spicy food just does not appeal. (Friend Rosemary)

Bruce R. Cordell (author of City of Torment): Belief in ideologies and dogmas for which there is absolutely no evidence, or in some cases, evidence against. (Friend Bruce)

James P. Davis (author of Circle of Skulls): Salad with an entrée. What do you get if you don’t want salad? Nothin’. (Friend James)

Lisa Smedman (author of Ascendancy of the Last): Eating dead animals. With a host of other protein options available, why choose to perpetuate cruelty and suffering?

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Intelligent or Happy?

How well do you know your FR Authors? Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you can expect an update to the author roundtable, featuring many of our best Forgotten Realms authors’ answers to the world’s most important questions, right here on this blog. Submissions for new questions welcome through private message. 

Elaine Cunningham(co-author of The City of Splendors): Are they mutually exclusive? (Friend Elaine)

Philip Athans (author of A Reader’s Guide to R.A. Salvatore’s Legend of Drizzt): The older I get the more I come to know that the two are mutually exclusive. Intelligent. (Friend Philip)

Ed Greenwood (author of The Sword Never Sleeps): Happy, but I have to admit that having and using intelligence, and being in the company of those who do, is one of the ways I find happiness. Really. Butting heads with stupidity makes me unhappy, fast.

Richard Baker (author of Avenger): Intelligent. If you’re intelligent but unhappy, maybe you’ll be motivated to make things better. (Friend Richard)

Mark Sehestedt (author of The Fall of Highwatch): Me or you?

Richard Lee Byers (author of Unholy): A truly intelligent person would probably say happy, but I’ll say intelligent.

Jak Koke (author of The Edge of Chaos): For years, I would have said ‘intelligent’ without hesitation, but I’m starting to lean toward ‘happy’. There’s a certain wisdom in happy. (Friend Jak)

Erin Evans (author of The God Catcher): Happy. I like being intelligent, but  if I have to pick one, being happy seems so much less stressful in the long run. (Friend Erin)

Christopher Rowe (author of a story in Realms of the Dead): Sure! Line 'em up! (Friend Christopher)

Erik Scott de Bie (author of Downshadow): INT, because it enhances my attack rolls.  (Friend Erik)

Jaleigh Johnson (author of Mistshore): Happy, with a side of mashed potatoes and intelligence. (Friend Jaleigh)

Rosemary Jones (author of City of the Dead): Both please. With an addition of “calm in face of calamity.” (Friend Rosemary)

Bruce R. Cordell (author of City of Torment): As my “best kind of dragon” answer probably reveals, I tend to think about things too much. But I strive to be happy nonetheless, and am very often successful in that pursuit. (Friend Bruce)

James P. Davis (author of Circle of Skulls): Intelligent. I have to say that I would have to be several shades of blissfully happy to not wonder and question and explores and learn. That would be the definition of “more than happy” and that, to my mind, is a borderline crazy smile, a manic laugh, an unflinching stare, and a gleaming butcher knife too close to a happy, happy hand. (Friend James)

Lisa Smedman (author of Ascendancy of the Last): Smart enough to realize what true happiness is.

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