As I mentioned yesterday, I write a lot of reviews on Amazon. Katie Reiter and David Fumarola sent me an email in March asking if I’d like an e-copy of their debut novel, Skankenstein, and I said yes.
Then they asked if I’d help promote a free giveaway of the kindle edition, Friday, May 17 to Tuesday, May 21 (2013). I said sure, and asked if they’d answer The Questions.
Yesterday, you met Katie, and today (in a double feature!), you get to meet David. Enjoy! (And get your free copy of Skankenstein while you can!)
The Questions
5. What skill(s) do you wish you’d learned as a kid?
I wish I’d learned an instrument. I took band for a year in fourth grade, but I never stuck with it. I wish I had learned to play something, any instrument really. I love music, but must admit I have very little technical understanding of it.
(dSavannah note: It’s interesting to me that so many people who have answered The Questions wish they’d learned to play something. And a few of them actually are musicians!)
15. What inspires you?
I’m honestly mostly inspired by other ridiculous or bad works. I find myself automatically thinking of how I would do it better. When I watch something that is already excellent, it’s enjoyable and I take a lot away from the experience, but it doesn’t set my mind into motion the way flawed material does.
(dSavannah note: Too bad he didn’t give us an example! But perhaps it is to protect the erm, guilty.)
18. Your work space: neat or messy?
My work space is almost always messy. Unfortunately, I have a hard time working when my space is messy. You can see the issue here. It means I often end up writing in various, unusual places rather than at my writing desk.
(dSavannah note: Hmmm… That is a problem!)
20. When did you know you wanted to be a writer/artist?
I think I always knew I wanted to tell stories. My father has told me he remembers me covering a sheet of white paper with a story when I was six and that they weren’t typical children’s stories. When I was in middle school I realized that my classmates actually enjoyed listening to my creative writing assignments, so I began to write longer projects on my computer for the first time. I’ve been writing regularly ever since.
26. I wish I was rich enough to ____?
I wish I was rich enough to pay off my student loans.
(dSavannah note: To pat myself on the back, I paid off my student loans in *three* years after I got my undergraduate degree, which was {ahem} a few years ago. I was determined not to carry that debt longer than I had to.)
27. What five words best describe you?
Sassy, Emotional, Logical, Creative, Awkward
39. What super power do you wish you had?
I wish I could shape shift, like Mystique in X-Men. I think it would be fun to keep trying out different personas.
(dSavannah note: That would be cool!)
About Skankenstein:
Skankenstein is a dark comedy for teens. In Skankenstein, the prettiest faces hide the ugliest intentions.
High School Senior Victoria Frank is the picture of teen perfection – she’s talented, witty, and ruthless – but being queen of tiny Geneva, NY isn’t enough. Tired of merely designing the perfect outfit, she sets out to design the perfect person. But when she turns a mysterious charity case into the school’s newest knockout, Victoria finds herself pitted in a cat fight to the death where kid sisters, boyfriends and tiaras are all fair game. Now she must sketch the most important design of her life – one that will save her family and friends from her dangerous creation – all while trying to graduate high school – alive. Skankensteinturns Mary Shelley’s classic on its head, as the natural austerity of Switzerland morphs into the Darwinian pecking order of Geneva High, where a tarnished reputation only seems like a fate worse than death.
About David:
David Fumarola has been writing as long as he can remember, and getting the stories out of his head and onto the page is the only thing that gives him peace of mind. He and Katie Reiter met as teenagers interning at the Albany Times Union and have been writing together since 2009. Skankenstein is their debut novel.
Learn more about the book and its authors:
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Guest #7 (my lucky number) for the 
OK. There is this little bakery in the downtown area where I live. Keep in mind, downtown here is the intersection of two roads. It’s called The Goodie Shop and the baker makes the best black and white cookies. —————->
Jerry Gentry has been an IT professional most of his life. He learned to program using punch cards. It was a good experience because he figured out he wasn’t born to code. Writing and reading have always been in his life, but it wasn’t until 2005 that he wrote his first book. It is a sci-fi, space opera that is in serious need of revision. His second book, SYN:FIN, has been published. It is the first in a series that he is working on. When he is not working or trying to be a parent and husband instead of the kid he yearns to be, he goes out running. In sandals. Which kind of lets him be a kid because he takes pictures and explores with a childlike perspective. All good writers are like kids. That is his theory and he is not going to change it.
Cara Michaels is a dreamer of legendary proportions (just ask her about the alien pirate spaceship invasion). Her imagination is her playground and nothing is quite so much fun for her as building new characters and new worlds with at least an edge of the fantastic. She’s writing whenever the opportunity presents itself and can typically be found tinkering with half a dozen projects, occasionally all at once.
Wonder Woman! She wears color! And pattern! I’m not fond of guns, tying up bad boys sounds like fun, honesty is always a plus, and how cool is it that she’s both superhero badass and a princess?? Plus, no one ever invited Lara Croft to join the Justice League (a.k.a. mega man candy) and I’m a total team player. Wait. That sounded pretty kinky…
Anne Baker writes humorous, feel-good contemporary romance with heroines that could be your friends. Anne is a self-described gypsy and nerd who balances writing with stay-at-home momhood and science tutoring. Currently, she’s prepping her family for their last anticipated cross-country move; Washington will be her 9th state of residence (but only the 3rd and 4th for the kids).
