Welcome back to The Pop Quiz at the End of the Universe, a recurring series here on Tor.com featuring some of our favorite science fiction and fantasy authors, artists, and others!
Today we’re joined by Keri Arthur, New York Times bestselling author of the Dark Angels and Riley Jenson Guardian series, has written more than thirty books. She’s been nominated in the Best Contemporary Paranormal category of the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Awards and has won a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for urban fantasy. Fireborn, available July 1st from Signet Select, is the first novel in Keri’s new series, Souls of Fire.
Join us!
Please relate one fact about yourself that has never appeared anywhere else in print or on the Internet.
Even though most of the characters in my books drink and love coffee, I cannot stand the taste of the stuff. Weirdly though, I love the smell of it—especially hazelnut coffee!
If you could choose your own personal theme song to play every time you enter a room, what would you pick?
I don’t know that I’d pick it, but “Hey Big Spender” would certainly be suitable! I love shoes, you see, and absolutely can not resist buying them, even though I have more than I can possibly wear already!
What’s your favorite method of procrastination?
Surfing the net. I waste far too many hours checking my favorite websites in the pretense of ‘researching’.
Bad news: You’re about to be marooned alone on a desert island—name the five things you would bring along.
Dark chocolate, tea, a pot to boil water in for my cup of tea, an ipad filled with books and games, and a solar battery pack with a USB connection to charge said ipad.
Would you rather discover the fountain of youth or proof of life on Mars?
Life on Mars—how exciting would that be?
Two roads diverge in a yellow wood: one leads toward a mysterious laboratory in which a mad scientist is currently ensconced. The other winds its way toward a tower inhabited by a powerful wizard. You could really use a snack, and it would be nice to have somewhere to crash for the night—which road do you choose?
The wizard. The scientist, being mad, would probably use me as a snack rather than actually provide one!
Choose your preferred fictional vacation spot: Narnia or Middle-earth (or some other fictional realm)…
Middle-earth…as long as the vacation came supplied with my own personal Aragorn (the non-clean version of the first two movies, please!)
What was your gateway to SF/Fantasy, as a child or young adult?
Lord of the Rings was the first fantasy series I read, and I’ve re-read it many times since.
If you could find one previously undiscovered book by a non-living author, who would it be? Why?
Well, Jane Austen automatically comes to mind, even though I’ve never actually read any of her books (I prefer audio books when it comes to her work. I love the hearing the English accent—it adds to the ‘reading experience’.)
As to why, well, it’s Jane Austen. Who wouldn’t want to discover more of her marvelous work?
Which language, real or fictional, would you like the ability to speak fluently?
Klingon. I have no idea why, or even who I’d talk to, but I love the original Star Trek series and have always fancied learning the language.
