1. It’s Halloween, pick 3 of your favorite writers to paint the town red with and tell us why you chose them.
R. E. Carr says: Well, I’d have to start with George R.R. Martin because I want to be really nice to him before trying to outrun him in the zombie apocalypse. It’s only fair. Then I would have to select Rick Gualtieri, because Halloween with two comedic vampire writers with a love for practical jokes is too good an offer to pass up. I predict that we would have an awesome time glitter bombing every sexy vampire costume we pass and playing with our kaiju toys while hopped up on sugar. Lastly, I would grab fellow Kindle Press author T.J. Zalecki because I think she looks taller than me and it’s a lot easier to paint if you have someone who can reach the high places without a ladder. Also while she’s not looking Rick and I can have our vampires bite her sirens and we will have a full-on mermaid apocalypse!
Meredith Says: I can't wait to read about the vampire mermaid apocalypse!I love the cover art ;)
2. You’re ready to head out with your pillowcase to collect loads of confections on All Hallows’ Eve, what’s your costume and why did you choose it?
R. E. Carr says: I, um, may have an adult-sized Belle costume stashed away for purely innocent reasons… I mean, she’s a smart, bookish Disney heroine with brown eyes and brown hair who gets to take home a ferocious Beast… yeah, I’m going to quit while I’m behind.
3. Old Mrs. Robinson opens her door and you’re holding open your pillowcase patiently waiting. “Oh deary,” she says in her frail, little old-lady voice. “I forgot it was Halloween. Don’t know why you kids go begging anyways. Let me go find something to give you.” She shuffles off and finally returns three and a half minutes later with 5 pennies, 2 peppermint candies that look like they went through the dryer, and her deceased husband’s dentures. “Take what you like,” she offers, squinting at you.
What do you choose and why.
R. E. Carr says: I’ll go for the teeth, after all I never know when I’ll get around to starting that cloning facility I always dreamed of and every bit of DNA helps.
4. I really love reading Dean Koontz but some of his stuff scares the bejesus out of me. What’s the spookiest book you’ve ever read?
R. E. Carr says: My first experience with a horror novel was actually a Dean Koontz novel. I saw Phantoms at the supermarket checkout like as a little girl and told my mom “ooh, pretty, I want that!” and she being my mom of course didn’t read the back, she just say the butterfly on the cover and put it in the cart. Yeah, I was a little surprised (at age eight) what I got myself into this time. I became terrified of any and all oil slicks on the pavement until I was about twenty and became completely obsessed with all missing cultures throughout history. When I went to Chichin Itza this year I may have even done one pass looking around corners for any mysterious holes.
5. You’re a writer by day and supernatural creature by night. (Shed that human skin you sack of bones) What are you and why?
R. E. Carr says: I am the fierce and mighty were— Who am I kidding? Everyone knows I turn into big fluffy bear and hibernate and am only moderately savage while waking up. Also, I’m slightly obsessed with honey.
6. Every author has a bookshelf filled with his or her favorite reads. Run on over to yours and tell us the scariest book you have.
R. E. Carr says: The scariest book I have on my shelves has to be the Vegetarian’s Complete Quinoa Cookbook. I mean, imagine 208 complete pages with no bacon and they expect you to cook these recipes and SURVIVE!!!
7. We don’t all write horror but there comes a time when you’ve got to surprise your readers and make sure their hearts are still beating. How do you prepare yourself to get in the spooky writing mood?
R. E. Carr says: I like to drink between 40 and 60 ounces of tea and then write late at night (because I won’t be sleeping anyway). My apartment is old and creaky and creepy and there are all sorts of weird reflections so it’s very easy to get in the mood. Also, the sheer amount of stimulants in the system guarantee that at least my heart will be racing.
8. Stephen King’s front porch light is on but there are no Halloween decorations.
Do you:
a) trick-or-treat and cross your fingers that he’s handing out the good stuff
b) run screaming
c) call your mom to bring your favorite King paperback and beg for an autograph
R. E. Carr says: I tend to get crippling stage fright when meeting my idols and I feel physical pain asking for anything, so I would probably conduct a séance. If my mother actually clawed out of her grave and brought me The Stand to get signed I think I would be stunned into enough courage to finally approach.
9. Congratulations, you just won the literary lottery and sold a million books at full price! The royalty check clears on October 28th. What are you buying for the neighborhood kids?
a) an assortment of mini candybars
b) an assortment of cheap, hard candies
c) full size Hershey bars
R. E. Carr says: Oh, the neighborhood kids are totally getting hooked up with British and Japanese candies. Every child should be shown the wonder of Crunchie Bars, Cadbury Flake, Meltykisses and green tea flavored Kit Kats.
10. Your writer friend calls you with some frightening news. They’re giving up on writing, can’t take the pressure any longer. What do you tell them?
R. E. Carr says: I will give them the very same advice that was given to me when I tried to give up a few years back:
“Go ahead, give up, be a quitty quiterton who quits. It’s not like it was dream or you really wanted to do this, right? I’m sure you’ll love sharing the story with your grandkids how you had a talent and then threw it away because it got tough at some point.”
Yeah, I tend to respond to sarcastic motivation, but it’s true. If you start getting angry over quitting something, then you probably can take that rage and channel it back into your work.
Connect with R. E. Carr!
R. E. Carr likes to split her time between the alien (well, resident alien) she married, her two adorable offspring and the vast army of characters who constantly argue in her brain. She uses her past life as a video game reviewer to remind herself just how awesome it is to be writing novels now.
Rachel writes because she knows so many people and places that never quite made it into this version of the universe. It's her duty to let them out. Writing also gives her mind a certain peace and calm rarely felt in this multi-tasking, wired world.
Quite a delightful answer for #2, R.E.!
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