10 Questions (March, 2015)
I haven’t done a 10 questions post for a while, so I figured it’s time for another one. Before I get to that, I’ve added a “Works in Progress” section to the website sidebar, so you can see my progress with whatever I’m writing. The goal word counts for items marked “First Draft” are estimates and might change. Right now, I’ve estimated that Deiform Four will be 75000 words long (based on the lengths of the second and third books), but I could be wrong.
Okay, the questions. Reminder: I’m taking these questions from a pool of 1500 questions I downloaded from somewhere last year. As usual, feel free to play along in the comments.
Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?
No.
Do you sing in the shower?
Nope. I get great story and scene ideas in the shower, though.
Is it possible to lie without saying a word?
I had to think about this one. If you’re having a one-on-one conversation with someone, I don’t think it’s possible to lie by not saying anything. I think you can withhold information, but not lie. Then I considered a group conversation, and someone says something like, “Do you agree with me?” or another question like that. Let’s say you don’t agree, and while everyone else nods or says, “Yes, I agree,” you remain silent. Are you lying if the person takes your silence to mean that you agree? I don’t think so. It’s more a case of them misinterpreting your silence. The same would go for a one-on-one conversation if you remain silent and the other person chooses to move on and interpret your silence however they want.
In other words, I think silence is always open to interpretation. You can’t lie, but someone can interpret your silence incorrectly. I could be wrong about this. Can you think of a situation where it’s possible to lie by not saying anything?
What is something you would hate to go without for a day?
Food.
What was the last book you read?
Dragon Age: The Masked Empire by Patrick Weekes (recommended).
What is your favorite meal of the day?
Lunch.
Would you prefer to live in the city or a rural area?
The city. I don’t have to live in large metropolitan area, but I’d go stir crazy living in a rural area where I’d have to travel miles to pick up bread and milk.
Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
No.
Would you rather drink a cup of spoiled milk or pee your pants in public?
This is really dumb question, but it lets me tell a story. A number of years ago, I was visiting my sister and she asked me if I wanted something to drink. I asked for a glass of milk. She said, “We only have skim. Is that okay?” Well, I’m not a big fan of skim milk, but I don’t hate it, so I said, “Sure.” She brought me a huge glass. I took a sip, and it tasted funny to me. I hadn’t had skim milk for a while and it always tastes a little funny to me, so I didn’t think anything of it. Over the course of the afternoon, I drank the entire glass, and it was a really big glass.
The next day, I was talking to my sister on the phone, and she asked me, “When you had that glass of skim milk yesterday, did it taste off?” I asked, “Why?” She said, “Because we had to throw out the rest of it this morning. It had gone off.”
So , having done it already without suffering any consequences, I guess I’d rather drink a cup of spoiled milk than pee my pants in public.
Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?
No, and I don’t believe it makes the elevator go faster. Related story that you may have heard before in some form: Someone told me once about a consultant who was hired by a building’s management to figure out how to speed up the elevators. People said they had to wait too long for an elevator to arrive. Instead of figuring out if the elevators could be programmed better or sped up somehow, the consultant suggested that there should be mirrors next to the elevators, and the building management followed his advice. Later on, they did a survey, and even though the elevators were taking as long to arrive as they had before, everyone perceived shorter wait times. I guess the point of the story is to come at a problem from several different angles, instead of from only the obvious one.
That’s it! How would you answer these questions?
10 Questions (March, 2015) is a post from: Sarah Ettritch
