~~~~~

Author Sorchia Dubois joins us for this week’s Thirteen for Thursday

~~~~~

Who was your first book boyfriend/girlfriend?

Ivanhoe/Robin Hood. I read Ivanhoe when I was pretty young and Robin Hood about the same time. Then there were Robin Hood movies—Thank you, Disney—with nice looking, tight-wearing boys with British accents. It looked like so much fun to live in the forest and fight bad guys with swords and bows and arrows. Ivanhoe was just too cool—he’d been all over the world and everybody at home either loved him or was scared of him. I’d have married either one of those guys despite the age difference and the technical problem that both of them were fictional.

What is the most interesting topic you’ve researched?

Since I like to put hints and tastes of legends in my stories, I do a lot of reading about weird creatures—especially Celtic folktales. So the most interesting things I’ve found are the Blue Men of the Minsch—demonic water Smurfs with a creepy fondness for poetry; the Baobhan sith, a female Highland vampire who makes Dracula look like a –well, like one of those sparkly teenage vampires from a certain movie series which shall not be named; and enough long-legged beasties to fill nightmares for the rest of my life.  I pass these along to readers because if I’m going to be awake all night wondering how much truth is in the old stories—so is everyone else.

What is your favorite book, song, and/or movie guilty pleasure?

Guilty pleasure—driving –going somewhere with the radio blasting and the tach red-lined. This is not something I indulge in often. Seriously, I love to drive and to travel but I don’t get to do it nearly enough. I used to drive a lot to get to work—sometimes over an hour one way—and those were the best times of the day. Traveling alone is my preferred method—nobody but me so I can stop when I want, drive through when I want, and take all the detours my little heart desires without any gripes, criticisms, or drama.

[K.J. here – we could be twins. Seriously…]

What are your favorite and least favorite words? (in any language…)

Not fond of the C-word, but very few others offend me all by themselves. It’s more the way they are said than the word itself that can get under my skin. My favorite words at the moment are ensorcellment (a long-standing fav), scheisse (for intense moments only), and kennings—these are figures of speech dating back to Old English and Old Norse poetry—like wine-dark sea or spear-din to describe battle. We use these old devices everyday (ankle-biter, fender bender, and on and on.) I like to make them up or adapt them to give my stories an old-world feel—at least for me. These are from my current WIP, Zoraida Grey and the Pictish Runes: moon-blue sorcery, ocean-ice eyes, spell-casters, moon-pie eyes.

Aside from writing, what different types of jobs have you done?

Pharmacist assistant, housecleaner, editor, teacher—some of them interesting at times, but none of them made me feel useful or like I was on the right path.

If you had to be a human planter, and you had to hold a plant while naked, what kind of plant would you hold and why?

English Ivy. I’m not allergic and I could probably convince myself I looked like a Rubenesque statue—cherubic and festively plump—with ivy leaves hiding the stretch marks and folds.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A writer! It started because Mom read to me a lot and I could hardly wait until I could read by myself because she always read dull stories propaganda about good little girls. Once I could read, I chose science fiction and lurid murder mysteries and, of course, epic romance. I typed my own interplanetary times newsletter in grade school and wrote an angst-filled teenage novel which I subsequently burned. I got very bad advice from male high school and college counsellors and allowed myself to be steered away from writing as a career. So I’m coming back to writing and feeling miles behind, but much happier.

White chocolate, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate?

I like my chocolate the way I like my men—dark, wrapped in foil, and with handy perforations to make them easier to break.

If you could witness any event past, present or future, what would it be?

Natural disasters are an interest but I’m not sure I would want to watch one knowing people were dying. If I could get past that, I’d like to see Krakatoa blow up, the Siberian whateveritwas, or the Tri-state tornado which actually passed not too far from where I live. Other than that, I’d like to see what Scotland and England looked like when the Caledonian Forest covered them. I have no interest in witnessing political events like the signing of the Declaration of Independence unless I could be there for the whole show from Pilgrim’s Rock on. It’s the whole story of these things that I find interesting—not just the event at the end.

What modern technology would you choose to not use and why?

TV though I love old movies—and some new ones. I waste so much time watching TV, I would gladly toss it out if it were not for the others in my house who use it as escape. And I admit, it keeps those others out of my hair so it is a necessary evil right now. Maybe I would just get rid of the news channels or even all the programs and just use it to watch movies. Then I would keep the TV and get rid of the microwave which is evil and just serves as a portal the NSA uses to watch me through.

What is the first movie you remember seeing?

True Grit—the first one I saw at a theater. My mom took me with a couple of friends and everybody was shocked when John Wayne said son of a bitch. Though my folks didn’t curse often in front of me, I was familiar with the concept and didn’t think much of it until the adults talked to me seriously about not using bad language—They seemed to single out me especially. I’m afraid their strategy backfired in a spectacular manner.

If you could speak a second language, what would it be and why?

I’m actually working on French and Gaelic. French, mainly because it’s easier and I may actually use it plus I studied it in college. Gaelic is difficult because most of the letters seem to be inserted just for fun or annoyance. I’m pretty sure Gaelic, like haggis, has its origins in a dare.

[K.J. here – mwahahaha on the haggis – I tried it when I was in Scotland. Super fantastic flavor, but I can’t get over knowing what’s in it…]

Favorite Olympic (Summer or Winter) sport and why?

Hard to choose but I am particularly fond of the Biathalon—This isn’t one of the flashy, popular events, but the history of it is intriguing. It involves cross-country skiing and shooting a rifle. In the individual event, the starts are staggered so you are essentially just doing your best without knowing for sure how you are measuring up against the others. It’s about a 12 mile ski race (about 10 miles for women) with twenty rifle targets along the way—sitting, standing, prone—several ways of shooting. The origin has to do with the Scandinavian god Ullr who was the god of skiing and hunting. The Norwegians developed military skiing contests in the 18th century, divided in four classes: shooting at mark while skiing at top speed, downhill race among trees, downhill race on big hills without falling, and a long race on flat ground while carrying rifle and military pack. I suspect this was adapted from an older tradition involving skiing, archery, and who knows what else. I just love the concentration and the need to be proficient in at least two things to succeed.  To me, it smacks of the epic and I could watch it all day long and make up stories about how it came to be and of battles and wars won because of the training.

Bonus Round

If you ruled your own country, what would you call it, and what would it be known for?

Whiskyland and our battle cry would be garbled and unintelligible—just a lot of yelling. Well, I guess we have Scotland for that. Ok. My country would be called The Woods and we would be famous for minding our own business and for a soothing magical spell we cast on everyone who enters.

Spiders, friends or foes?

Friends, though they have faulty memories and sometimes forget. I have about a million pictures of spider webs on my phone and I try not to kill spiders unless they are openly hostile. Even then, unless it is standing on my bed or in front of the refrigerator, I’ll either take it to a safer location or walk away rather than hurt it.

Sorchia’s Online Playground

Blog/Website: www.SorchiaDubois.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SorchiaDubois

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/SorchiaDubois/

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/SorchiaD

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/SorchiaDuBois/e/B00B60NOUQ/

Goodreads  author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6879978.Sorchia_DuBois

Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+SorchiaDuBois

Author Bio

Sorchia Dubois lives in the piney forest of the Missouri Ozarks with seven cats, three fish, one dog, and one husband. Her two kids are grown and out in the world, but they come home to do laundry and for fried catfish dinner. She edits technical writing part time, but she spends a number of hours each day tapping out paranormal romance, Gothic murder, and Scottish thrillers.

A proud member of the Ross clan, Sorchia incorporates all things Celtic (especially Scottish) into her works. She can often be found swilling Scotch at Scottish festivals and watching kilted men toss large objects for no apparent reason.

Save