Robin Parrish has dropped by to leave us with thoughts to ponder and a really good glimpse into the inner workings of his mind. If you love what he's saying - I think you'll really enjoy Fearless. (Click on the title to head over to Amazon to see other reviews and more book info.)
Thanks, Robin. It was great to "chat" with you.
Fiction character you would most like to be or most identify with and why?
I always find myself identifying with the underdog hero who's just trying to survive all of the insane circumstances life throws his way. Peter Parker. Frodo Baggins. And of course my own character, Grant Borrows.There's just something about that character who isn't really all that extraordinary at heart, who keeps getting beaten down by life over and over... but no matter what, they get back up every time and press on. I find that incredibly inspiring.
If you could ask any person, living or dead, a random question -- what question would you ask of whom?
I'd love to ask Tolkien what his response was if he was ever told that his work wasn't "Christian enough."
What crayon in the box describes you on a good day? Bad day?
On a good day I'm Sky Blue. On a bad day, I'm Burnt Umber.
Favorite turn of phrase or word picture, in literature or movie.
"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that's given to you." - Gandalf the Grey, in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. This is pretty much my whole worldview summed up in one phrase.
What period of history intrigues you the most?
Medieval times. I'm a sucker for a good Robin Hood or King Arthur story. You've got castles and knights and swords and bows & arrows... C'mon, what's not to love?
What makes you feel alive?
The act of creation. Making something -- anything.
Where would you most like to travel ----- moon, north pole, deep seas, deserted island, the holy land or back to a place from your childhood, somewhere else? – and why.
The moon, definitely. I'm fascinated by outer space. I mean for starters, why is there so much of it? Is it the battleground for the war between Heaven and Hell? Could there be other life out there somewhere, somehow? Or is God simply so big that he just requires that much space to stretch out in?God doesn't do anything without a reason, so if the universe is as big as it is, then he must have a doggone good purpose for it, and I'd love to know what it is.
Favorite book setting and why?
I can't think of any fictional, nonexistent setting that is more detailed or more fully realized than Middle Earth. I'd love to contribute something of that scale and importance to literature someday. (Some day far in the future, that is.)I'd also love to roam around the Marvel Comics universe, chat up Spider-Man, Daredevil, the Avengers, or the X-Men.
Which compliment related to your writing has meant the most and why?
Whenever I get a comment about how something I wrote changed someone's perspective on something, really opened their eyes to looking at the world in a different way... I don't think it gets much better than that.
What criticism has cut the deepest and why?
The only people who could ever cut me that deeply are the people I take that seriously, and that would be my family. And except on those really bad stressful days that we all have now and then, support and love are all I ever get from them.
What would you do today if you knew you had only a week to live?
Make sure that my wife was taken care of, and record some messages for our unborn child, so he or she would know who I was.After that I'd probably travel somewhere I've never been but always wanted to go.
What is your favorite word?
"Why."
What word annoys you more than any other?
"Can't."
Super power you'd love to borrow for awhile?
I wouldn't mind having Wolverine's healing ability. I seem to stumble over some kind of health issue or another rather often, and Logan can't even catch a common cold.
Favorite chore
I don't mind vacuuming so much.
Anything you'd do but don't because of fear of pain? What is it? Ex. Bungee jumping, sky diving, running with scissors.
I'm a chronic pain sufferer, so fear of pain doesn't really hold me back from anything. If it did, I'd never make it out of bed in the morning.
Grammatical pet peeve…sound off.
Oh man, there are so many...Biggest would probably be improper use of an apostrophe. As in the difference between "it's" and "its." That drives me bananas. Getting quotation marks in the wrong place bugs me too. I was taught that quotation marks always go after the period or the comma, even if the quote is just a phrase or just a single word. So many people quote stuff "like this". That quotation-mark-period thing totally grates.
Societal pet peeve…sound off.
Anyone who knows me at all already knows what I'm about to say, because I harp on it all the time:Traffic!For the life of me I cannot understand what it is about getting behind the wheel of a car that makes so many people's IQs drop about 70%. People get in their cars and they just turn stupid. It's an epidemic, and I can't explain it.
