The one in which I answer the questions

Hullo! Now that I'm back in the swing of blogging, I can finally get to the interview questions Jin asked me a few weeks back!

Kind of nice to not be obsessing over moving and packing... and finally able to catch up on my life.

Speaking of which: Anybody want to buy a townhouse in scenic Hillsborough, N.J., the nation's 23rd best place to live?

But I digress.

Anyway, on with the interview!

1. Do you remember the first horror movie you saw? Do you think it was
this film that began your obsession? (I mean 'obsession' in a good way! ;-)

When I was 10, I went to a sleepover birthday party, and (among other films) we watched "Jaws"and "Jaws 2"back-to-back. I didn't go swimming for about two years. And I still shower quickly. I think that's really what did it.

2. Dead Hunt! How did it come about? Did you just start writing and out
it came or was it a long process? Most importantly, will I be able to
get it from Netflix and when?

The idea for "Dead Hunt" was one I'd come up with a couple of years before the whole process started, visiting the HorrorFind Weekend with my friends from HorrorTalk.com. I started on a short story and never really finished it... but then, when my friend Joe Ripple, of Timewarp Films had an idea that eventually led to "DH," it turned out, when we were talking, it was the same idea that I'd based my story on. So we discussed it, and he took my treatment (a synopsis of a script) to his partner, the late Don Dohler, and they decided to have me write it. The actual writing didn't take too long. I'm a very momentum-based writer, so there were some sleepless nights, but I delivered a first draft fairly quickly. Of course, there was the inevitable revision process after that, which they were kind enough to let me be a part of.

And you should be able to get it from many different places very soon. Last I've heard, it's a September release.

3. YAY! You are engaged to a cute chick that seems pretty darn fabulous!
Tell us more about the wedding plans, honeymoon plans or basically
anything you haven't told us already!

The wedding is Aug. 3, 2008, at the Berkeley Plaza in Berkeley Heights, N.J. It's a very popular wedding location, and has nothing but rave reviews. We've booked a highly regarded DJ and a highly regarded photography studio. And then we put a lot of the planning on hold until after our move, though we are registered at a few places, notably Fortunoff.

As for the honeymoon, we were thinking of somewhere exotic, like Iceland, but because of the house purchase, we're pondering something a little more domestic, but equally fun.

4. After a glance at your 101 in 1,001 I noticed this entry: "97. Be
interviewed by someone, instead of doing the interviewing." I don't
suppose this counts...does it? I bet you meant in real life! ;-) What
famous news person would you most like to meet in the flesh?

I've actually met quite a few vaguely well-known news people, thanks to my profession, but among the truly famous, it's a tough call. The late Peter Jennings was the newsman I grew up listening to, as "World News Tonight" was my parents' nightly news of choice. But among the living, I think the obvious choice is Walter Cronkite, just for everything he's seen and done in, and for, the profession.

Among newspapers, of course, at this point I'd think Woodward & Bernstein are probably the heroes of choice.

But all in all, I'm not too interested in newsman as celebrity. I enjoy sharing a press box with the Oakland Raiders beat writers, none of whom are household names, and I respect their professionalism tremendously. Often even the least-known of journalists has some great stories to tell. My father spent some time as an intern in radio news in college (he was a journalism major), and I love the stories he tells.

That's not really an answer, is it?

5. Wow. A click back to your first post ever informed me that you have
been blogging for 2 years this month. Why did you start blogging? Has
there ever been something you wanted to blog but found you just couldn't
'type about it' or is Life on the Rim pretty much a 'tell all'?

Two years, really?

I didn't think it had been that long. I'll have to check.

I started because one of my friends had started a blog, I'd read some about it in the tech pieces we ran in the paper, and as a writer, the thought really interested me. But I was either too busy or too lazy to do anything about it, until one day, I had a story I wanted to share with the world. And that became my first post.

Which, now that I look it up for the link, was in March 2005. If you're curious.

As for taboo subjects, like anybody else, I suppose I have certain secrets I just will never tell. Plus, I try to stay away from anything that might get me in trouble at work. After all, journalists pride themselves on their objectivity, and newspapers have an editorial board that speaks for them and their staff.

So I don't say where I work, I don't talk about work too much, and I leave out a few secrets from my past, particularly painful ones or ones that might involve people who don't need those stories brought to light.

Other than that, though, as far as my thoughts on things, there, it's pretty much a tell-all.

Thanks, Jin! Hope you (and everyone else) enjoyed my answers!