Getting To Know Angela Slatter
Australian writer Angela Slatter is our featured author in the Case Notes section of Black Static #21, which should be mailing out to subscribers about now, with an interview and reviews of her three short story collections (see previous blog entry for more on that). Having asked Angela loads of serious and deeply meaningful questions in the interview, I thought I'd give her the chance to be just as shallow and superficial as the rest of us by talking about whether she likes jammy dodgers or chocolate bourbons the best, and similar vital issues.
Q: An American Werewolf in London or Ginger Snaps?
A: An American Werewolf in London.
Q: An evening out - theatre or cinema?
A: Cinema.
Q: Assuming you can't have both as a writer - critical acclaim or financial success?
A: Awwww, financial success - can't pay my bills with literary credit and starving in a garret in Paris is less appealing when you're older and like buying books and shoes.
Q: Which do you consider more likely - ghosts or flying saucers?
A: Ghosts, absolutely.
Q: Tea or coffee
A: Coffee!!!! My consumption of it is legendary and anyone who knows me and sees me early in the morning will ask 'Have you had your coffee yet?' before they ask anything else.
Q: Your preferred James Bond - Sean Connery or Daniel Craig?
A: Connery - no competition. Although the Bond of my growing up years was actually Roger Moore.
Q: For a holiday - mountains or the coast?
A: A coastal mountain? I love the sea when I need to empty out my brain. I love the mountains for when I want to hunker down and write.
Q: Angela Carter - the short stories or the novels?
A: Oooooh, short stories. What works so well in the short form doesn't necessarily translate as well to the novels.
Q: Odette or Odile?
A: I can no longer answer this question after watching Black Swan - I really didn't like the movie. Hungry angry ballerinas vie to be molested by Vincent Cassel. At the moment, it's wiped all good memories of Swan Lake away.
Q: Would you rather visit a museum or an art gallery?
A: Hard choice, but if pushed: art gallery.
Q: Eating out - Mexican or Italian?
A: Neither - too much gluten. Thai food or a good old fashioned STEAK.
Q: The Adventures of Baron Munchausen or The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus?
A: The Adventures of Baron Munchausen! Naturally!
Q: To watch - rugby or cricket?
A: Not a huge sports fan, but I will watch rugby. I will even go to International matches with my sister. As for cricket: I would rather wear my own entrails as a necklace than watch cricket.
Q: Favourite holiday - Christmas or Halloween?
A: Halloween is pretty much irrelevant in Australia. So, Christmas!!
Q: To listen to - classical music or jazz?
A: Classical.
Q: Are you a cat or a dog person?
A: Both, although my family always has cats. I like horses, too ... and cows.
Q: If you can't have both, starter or dessert?
A: Dessert, preferably a lemon meringue pie or a crème brulee.
Q: Favourite Dracula - Christopher Lee or Bela Lugosi?
A: Oh, Christopher Lee. Less melodramatic (although still pretty melodramatic), but the hair! The height! The cheekbones! The bearing!
Q: Do you prefer to get your news from a paper, television or the internet?
A: I still love the Saturday paper - The Weekend Australian - but time constraints tend to mean I get most of my news from the interwebs. I'm generally not home early enough to catch the news in the evening.
Q: Hans Christian Andersen or Charles Perrault?
A: Awwww, both disturbed men who were scared of women. Neither. How about Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy?
Q: To compete in - team or individual sports?
A: My preference is to not compete in sports at all. But if I must choose: individual. I don't play well with other children.
Q: The Princess Bride or Stardust?
A: Both!!!
Q: Are you a morning or an evening person?
A: Evening - I think my answer about coffee may have given that away.
Q: Salvador Dali or Pablo Picasso?
A: Salvador Dali.
Q: Alien or Aliens?
A: Aliens.
Q: Doughnut or Danish?
A: Nowadays, both have too much gluten L. But if pressed: a blueberry Danish is the closest thing to nirvana.
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