Andrew Buckley’s Proust-ish Questionnaire

Speculative and humor fiction author Andrew Buckley joins us on our upcoming episode to talk about all manner of writerly things, including what to do if you start growing hair in all the wrong places. Check out his answers to our quirky, Proust’s Questionnaire based questions.

The Proust-ish Questionnaire

Q. If not yourself, which fictional character would you be?

A. Bond, James Bond. Or Batman. Or James Batman Bond! Truthfully, I’m simply too greedy and could never pick one character. To be a 400 year old exiled warrior like Aaragorn, or an adventurer/sorcerer like Kvothe, or time travelling magical queen like Kelsey Glynn, or . . . I could go on and on 🙂

Q. Who are your favorite heroine and hero from fiction?

A. Because it’s fresh in my mind as I just finished the Tearling trilogy by Erika Johansen I’d have to say Queen Kelsea is my current fave heroine. She carried herself with such confidence, even when she didn’t feel it, and only ever had the best interests of others at hand. She also wielded powerful magic that she didn’t understand , and was truly a force to be reckoned with. My favourite hero is Kvothe from the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. I discovered the series last year and devoured it faster than anything else I’ve ever read. The layers of detail and adventure and the mystery of Kvothe and who he is in the ‘present’ compared to who he was in the past is such a well-woven story, I just love that character.

Q. If you could have dinner with any three authors, dead or alive, whom would you dine with?

A. Douglas Adams, because he’d be hilarious. Stephen King, because I can’t stand his books and I’d love to understand why. Andy Weir, because I already met him once, he told me I looked like Jane from Firefly, and I think it’s something we need to talk about further.

Q. Do you have a current or “forever” favorite book?

A. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy will forever be my favourite book of all time, with Lord of the Rings coming in a close second. I keep discovering new treasures, but these two I’ll hold onto forever and someone better bury me with copies of them so I have something to read when I’m waiting for whatever comes next.

Q. Which fictional character would you want to befriend?

A. Willy Wonka. He has an army of orange dwarves and owns a candy factory. I feel this answer needs no other justification.

Q. What villain from fiction do you love to hate?

A. King Joffrey from A Song of Ice and Fire. He was equally if not more repellent in the books than he was in the TV show, which is saying something. His personality, his dialogue, his actions, were all designed to make us hate him, and hate him we did. In fact we wished he’d just choke and die . . . Oh wait.

Q. Tell us about the books in your life that have fed your soul, brought you solace, pleasure, or joy, or eased your mind.

A. There are SO many. Reading in general has always presented me with a glorious escape into my imagination, which (outside of Stephen King novels) is a such a happy place. As a young child I read all of Enid Blyton’s ‘Famous Five’ series of books in the UK. They made me want to go on adventures and solve mysteries. Even Twilight, for all its faults, was such great escapism. Terrible story, but such a soap opera that I couldn’t put it down. When I discovered Harry Potter, what a world! And one that feasibly existed behind our own. Homer’s the Odyssey re-ignited my love for classical adventure, Jaws by Peter Benchley made me scared of the ocean all over again, Wayward Pines presented a twist in storytelling that I just didn’t see coming. Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Trilogy had so many twists and turns that it was a sheer pleasure every time a new plot point jumped out at you unexpectedly. I’d have to say, for better or worse, I’m profoundly affected by everything I read, and it’s always a joy. Every single time. Even those cursed Stephen King novels ;).

Q. If you could exist in any story world, which would you choose, and why?

A. I’d love to say Westeros because I feel I could be very effective in a medieval setting, but people are constantly being beheaded, castrated, or raped in the seven kingdoms. So for my own health and safety I’m going to have to go with Middle Earth. As long as you stay away from Mordor, there seem to be a lot of nice parts I could visit.