I’d like to welcome author J. P. McLean back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!
Hardest thing about being a writer: Writing on beautiful days. Those days are temptresses that lure me outside to play in the garden or stroll on the beach instead of writing.
Easiest thing about being a writer: Not having to commute to an office!
Words that describe you: perfectionist and ultra-organized.
Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: perfectionist and stubborn. Both traits get in the way of life in general, and often my writing, which will never be perfect and is often better with flaws.
Favorite music or song: When I’m not writing, I enjoy pop/rock music, but when I’m writing, lyrics distract me. I’ve recently discovered a few French café music stations, which are perfect! I love the jazzy sound and because I don’t speak French; the lyrics don’t distract me from my writing.
Music that drives you crazy: heavy metal. I know many people love it, but I find it jarring.
Favorite beverage: Red wine—preferably Cabernet Sauvignon, Amarone, or Zinfandel.
Something that gives you a sour face: grapefruit juice.
Favorite smell: Ooh, so many! Fresh laundry is right up there at the top of my list.
Something that makes you hold your nose: Low tide on a sweltering hot day.
The last thing you ordered online: A USBC to headphone jack converter for my smartphone. When I’m selling books at conferences and markets, I sometimes use Square’s credit card swiper to take payment. The Square swiper uses a headphone jack, and the new phones have phased out this feature.
The last thing you regret buying: An expensive pair of Italian leather sandals. They were beautiful, but they didn’t survive an unexpected run through the rain.
Things you’d walk a mile for: A hug from my dad, and my mom’s pea soup.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Negative people and their never-ending stream of complaints, perceived mistreatments, and poor-me attitudes.
Favorite books (or genre): My favourite genres are supernatural thrillers or urban fantasies. The thing I like most about those genres is the unexpected, whether it’s a superpower, or a magical talisman, or a new world. I love inhabiting those worlds and imagining the possibilities of superpowers and magic. Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen series is one I recently enjoyed.
Books you wouldn’t buy: Political memoirs don’t appeal to me.
Favorite things to do: I love sitting down to a leisurely meal with friends and family, sharing laughs and anecdotes and just catching up. The pandemic restrictions have severely curtailed that for us, but it’s opening up now and we’re slowly getting out again.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Grouting tile or sanding drywall, both of which I’ve done during various home renovations. If I ever renovate again, I’ll move into a hotel or travel and leave the grouting and sanding to the professionals.
The funniest thing to happen to you: When I was in my first year of high school (we were called nifty niners), I met a boy a year ahead of me in grade ten at my first high school dance. He invited me to the school football game the following day. I’d never had an interest in football, but he was cute, and I wanted to see him again, so I agreed to meet him there.
The football field didn’t have seating, so spectators were camped out on the lawn or milling about outside the school building. I walked up and down the field, scanning the crowd for him. After a half hour of fruitless searching, I gave up and left, disappointed about being stood up on my first high school date.
But the following Monday at school, he sought me out to ask why I hadn’t attended the game. Imagine my surprise when I learned he wasn’t a spectator in the crowd, but a football player on the field.
The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: When I was in grade eight, I was a centre on the school basketball team. Our team made it through to the runoffs, and on the day of the final tournament, we were bussed to the hosting stadium. It was an impressive facility, with several courts and half a dozen of the best school teams. They even had volunteers on the sidelines with trays of sliced oranges for the players. We thought we’d made it to the big leagues.
I’ve never been a strong scorer, but I had a knack for getting the ball to my teammate, who was a forward and could dead drop the ball into the net from anywhere on the side of the key. We played hard during the first half, and I was exhausted. At halftime, after I’d gobbled down a few orange slices, the teams changed ends.
We headed back out on the court and I got hold of the ball and made a breakaway for the net. I heard the crowd cheering and I couldn’t believe my good luck that no one challenged me along my way to glory. I tossed the ball at the net—missed but caught it on the rebound and tried again.
It’s a good thing I was such a bad shot, because the crowd hadn’t been cheering me on, they were shouting at me to stop. I’d forgotten about the end change and was at the wrong net. If I’d scored, it would have been for the other team.
Not surprisingly, the coach pulled me out of play, and I sat out the rest of the game on the bench. I would have preferred to crawl into a hole.
The nicest thing a reader said to you: After Lethal Waters came out, one reviewer wrote, “I would read this author’s shopping list if she’d let me. Excellent, fascinating, exciting . . . I can’t get enough!”
The craziest thing a reader said to you: “You should write my memoir. I’ve had a very interesting life.”
