\u00a0<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/div>\nI’ve pulled together 40ish questions – some bookish, some silly – and have asked authors to limit themselves to answering only 10 of them. That way, it keeps the interviews fresh and connectable for all of us!<\/span><\/p>\n Today we are joined by human-shaped, monkey-loving, robot-fighting, pirate- hearted, Sign up for his newsletter<\/a> and get a free book : )<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What\u2019s the single best line you\u2019ve ever read?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThe ships hung in the sky in much the same way that ~Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide to the Galaxy<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n What is your favorite book from childhood?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n One of my first A few years <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n If you could Telekinesis, It gets you Plus, you never Am I jazzed <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Summarize your https:\/\/media1.giphy.com\/media\/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExczVwYnZ3eDA4djZzM3dm<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n a2cxeTE1b2d5a3NpNG90bjAzZTVhN2ViYiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw\/kCAvFoqAxYZIiEdXEc\/giphy.gif<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n https:\/\/media1.giphy.com\/media\/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExY3Rqb3pycXFxcXBwdGtqMmo0dzV5ODZ6cjJzN3psZ3Rtd2F6Y2s5MCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw\/3oEjHYRheaRFA5Lv5S\/giphy.gif<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n https:\/\/media0.giphy.com\/media\/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExN3ZkOTFvazZ4NmlpdW82MzIxbDU3emV1YW9xdWF5NWd3ODE0bXl2aCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw\/NBiZA02BNlgis\/giphy.gif<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n https:\/\/media3.giphy.com\/media\/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExMzB0N24wdGJqMTl3cjI2djA5bms4b2d4YzQzNWhhNWxqeXZqeWhrOSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw\/69mUSKBujnpgmxcqlg\/giphy.gif<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n https:\/\/media1.giphy.com\/media\/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExcHExZDJodzVraHNzc2d5OXdhcDB4eThidzdlcHNxYW93NzNpNzYzZSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw\/3o85xryJCGs1JOyCYM\/giphy.gif<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n https:\/\/media2.giphy.com\/media\/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExaHZ5Nmp2ZW92Zzhpbm16amh1aXZ3cXVianl0ZTY1aGp6ZzdmN2ZjcyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw\/kvCYXVnXQdecE\/giphy.gif<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n https:\/\/media4.giphy.com\/media\/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExdGt4MHY4anh0am5zb3R3MDA5MHloMGd6NmMyODFvOHMycnVjaDVwdyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw\/yh7jpVmUKQWIM\/giphy.gif<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s the one Serious answer <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n What are some Some of my <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n If you could Assuming we can <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Which literary I guess I stole <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n What do you do I teach at When I\u2019m not <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Why do you For the money, Sorry. It\u2019s Writing is an And I\u2019ve always ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n What happens <\/p>\n Do you accept it, or <\/b> Infused with comic insight and tragic vision, this collection invites readers <\/p>\n \u201cMark A. Rayner\u2019s formidable storytelling is on full display in this <\/b><\/p>\n ~Terry\u00a0Fallis, author of\u00a0<\/span>The Best Laid Plans<\/i>\u00a0&
\nstorytelling junkie, Mark Rayner<\/a> is an award- winning author of satire and
\nspeculative fiction. He writes in the genres of science fiction, humorous SF
\nand dark comedy. He also dips his toe in the occasional bit of dramatic prose
\nand experimental\/literary fiction. When not working on the next novel, he pens
\nshort stories, squibs and other drivel. (Some pure, and some quite tainted with
\nmeaning.)\u00a0<\/span>He’s
\nthe co-host of Re-Creative, a podcast about how creative people were inspired
\nby other works of art.\u00a0<\/span>Mark
\ndoes all these things while being Canadian and owning cats.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
\nbricks don’t.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nmemories is of reading my favorite book, Look Out
\nfor Pirates! <\/em>aloud, to my brother, Mike. He was barely a toddler.
\nWhenever I leaned over the crib to show him the picture that went with the
\nprose I was so enthusiastically reciting, he\u2019d grab the book at try to throw it
\naway. (Very pirate-like behavior, so I approved.)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nlater, when all my classmates were explaining they wanted to be astronauts, or
\nnurses, or firefighters, I explained it was the pirates life for me. I was
\ndevasted when I learned that being a pirate was not a viable career goal. (I
\nmean, unless you want to manage a hedge fund.)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nhave a superpower, what would it be?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\n100%! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nflying, assuming you can lift yourself. You don\u2019t have superstrength, but you
\ndon\u2019t need to get close to anything. You can protect yourself with force
\nfields. Hell, you could theoretically manipulate atoms and create things with
\nthe power of your mind. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nhave to get off the couch when you can\u2019t find the remote!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nabout this superpower? Hell yeah. I\u2019m in the process of writing two trilogies
\nin which this is the killer app.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nbook using only gifs or emojis.<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\nbook someone else wrote that you wish you had written?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\nfor this one: Italo Calvino\u2019s Invisible Cities<\/i>. It\u2019s about Marco Polo
\ntelling Kublai Khan about all the marvelous cities in the Khan\u2019s empire, but so
\nmuch more. It\u2019s a prose poem, a paean to the limitless nature of human
\ncreativity. Don\u2019t look to it for plot or character development, but in terms of
\nstyle and imagination it\u2019s not to be missed. And it inspired one of the short
\nstories in my new collection, The Gates of Polished Horn<\/i>, \u201cThis
\nAmbiguous Miracle.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nof your favorite books and\/or authors?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\nfavourite authors include Ursula K. Le Guin, Philip K. Dick, William
\nShakespeare, Samuel Beckett, Chuck Palahniuk, Tom Robbins, George Orwell,
\nRobertson Davies, Julian Barnes, George Saunders, Milan Kundera, William
\nGibson, Douglas Adams, Christopher Moore, Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard &
\nItalo Calvino. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nspend the day with another author, who would you choose and why?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\ngo back in time? Kurt Vonnegut. He\u2019s my literary hero, and I consider one of
\nAmerica\u2019s all-time great satirists. Vonnegut has a beautiful way of casting the
\nfolly of human nature into disrepute at the same time as having great sympathy,
\nand even love, for his characters. Plus, he was funny as hell and apparently a
\ngreat conversationalist when he was in the mood. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\ninvention do you wish was real and why?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\nmy own thunder on this one \u2013 a time machine, clearly. Though you have to be
\ncareful when you\u2019re time travelling, as people will learn from the first story
\nin my new collection, \u201cSocratic Insanity.\u201d The framework for this story is that
\ntime travellers who go back to, oh, let\u2019s say kill Hitler before he does all
\nhis damage, believe they have succeeded. But when they come back, they have not
\n\u2013 you can\u2019t change what has already happened, or if you do, you create an
\nalternate reality. But you can\u2019t travel to an alternate reality. Their
\nsubjective reality \u2013 I killed Hitler \u2013 just doesn\u2019t match the objective
\nreality. So my time travellers go insane. But not if they\u2019re careful and don\u2019t
\ntry to change anything. Having drinks with Kurt Vonnegut doesn\u2019t count.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nwhen you\u2019re not writing?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\nWestern University, at the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS). I\u2019m
\nvery lucky to have a job that feeds my writing, while much of my marketing activities
\nas a writer help me in the classroom. My teaching focuses on web design,
\ninformation architecture, visual communication and social media. I teach in the
\nundergrad program, called Media and Communication, plus in our two professional
\ngraduate programs, the Library and Information Science program, and in the
\nMaster of Media in Journalism and Communication program. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nteaching, I like to enjoy workouts, reading, video games, movies and playing
\nguitar. And my two cats, Max and Milo, keep me busy too!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nwrite?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\nof course. Bwahahah!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\njust that this is a deep and difficult question. Why am I trying to answer it?
\nI guess I like a challenge. I mean, writing is one of the all-time great
\nartistic challenges. The rejection isn\u2019t as intense as it is with acting, but
\nit\u2019s up there. Yet having the ability to bring people, ideas, worlds \u2026 whole
\nuniverses into existence is just such a cool thing. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nact of empathy. The best stories are ones that move us and that requires the
\nauthor has compassion for their characters. Even the baddies. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nbeen a storyteller, since I first started reading Look Out for Pirates!<\/i>
\nto my brother. It\u2019s a compulsion. An intellectually and emotionally rewarding
\ncompulsion. It can be painful too, but I\u2019ve never really seriously considered
\nNOT writing. It\u2019s too much at the core of who I am.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\nwhen you\u2019re face-to-face with a truth that shakes you?\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\npretend it was never there?<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\nAward-winning author Mark A. Rayner smudges\u00a0the\u00a0lines between realist
\nand fabulist, literary and speculative in this collection of stories that
\nexamines this question\u2014what Homer called passing
\nthrough\u00a0The\u00a0Gates\u00a0of\u00a0Polished\u00a0Horn.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nWe discover\u00a0the\u00a0cruelty of creating synthetic consciousness. A woman
\nis worried that her husband is having an affair but discovers it’s much, much
\nworse. A time traveler uncovers a reality-bending fact while
\nobserving\u00a0the\u00a0death of Socrates. Waldo, of Where’s Waldo fame, has an
\nexistential crisis. A traveling salesperson is killed on\u00a0the\u00a0highway,
\nand this is just\u00a0the\u00a0start of his journey
\nthrough\u00a0the\u00a0gates.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ninto new realities that touch on our shared humanity.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nthoughtful and diverse collection. He\u2019s a fine and creative writer whose
\ncharacters and storylines are quirky, inventive, and often very funny.\u00a0
\nBravo!\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
\ntwo-time winner of\u00a0the\u00a0Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour<\/span><\/p>\n