I'm so excited to have Michael G. Munz back on the blog for a second round of questions to celebrate both my birthday week and this amazing book. Thanks again for taking the time to answer some questions!
Happy to do it! Thanks for the opportunity.
In our previous interview, we talked a little bit about what books and movies inspired you as an author. Since Zeus is Dead is a book that centrals around Greek mythology: What is your favorite mythical movie?
If we're talking Greek mythology, it's a toss-up between Jason and the Argonauts and the original Clash of the Titans. It's been decades since I've seen the former, though. (I should really re-watch it to see if I enjoy it as much as I used to.) Without the Greek qualifier, I'd have to go with The Dark Crystal, which is an amazing creation with a mythology of its very own.
If you were given a spot in the pantheon, what would you like to be the god of?
I'd love to be the god of geeks and geek culture. But I think I'd have to overthrow Wil Wheaton first.
All hail Wesley Crusher. Would you follow the rules, or would you interfere with the lives of your chosen worshippers (or enemies, for that matter)?
I'm one of those weirdos who tries to stick to the rules. Though there IS a difference between bending and breaking, isn't there? I might do a little interfering, if I thought I could get away with it. Mostly, though, I think I'd tend toward humor and pranks rather than doing things that have grand effects on people's lives. Making people laugh is fun.
You're among like minds, I was always tend to follow the rules too. Now, can you tell us a little about your writing process? Do you have to be in a certain room or in a certain mind set?
I have difficulty writing at home (I get distracted with other things), so, as cliché as this may sound, I tend to go out to write in a café or something. I'm lucky enough to have a number of great choices where I live. I find I work best in a place with a lot of warm tones (wood, reds, dark greens, etc.), with enough people in it to keep it lively without being overcrowded. I look for corner tables where I can face the room; it's hard to write if I feel someone is behind me, even if they're not actually paying attention to what I'm doing. (Plus, as we know from Frank Herbert's Dune, sitting with your back to a room is an invitation to assassination!)
Also, some manner of caffeine is helpful.
What scene was your favorite to write?
The first one that comes to mind is the introduction of Baskin, a newly created god of battle and ice cream. It's a short scene, but it was a blast making him come to life. A close second is the scene where Tracy and Leif confront Dionysus in his never-ending party atop the Dionysian Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
I do love me some Dionysus. I mean he is the original god of tits and wine. Which scene gave you the most trouble?
The entire bit with The Fates. I really wanted to portray them as being on a completely different level from everyone, gods included. They needed to be mysterious, paradoxical, and beyond. At the same time I needed to keep them funny (this is an adventure comedy, after all) and able to advance the story in a way that wouldn't confuse the reader. What do the Fates look like? What does their abode (a serviceable room above a convenience store at the intersection of the two parallel streets of Sparkwood and 23rd on the eastern side of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan) look like? How do they talk?
It was slow-going, with a lot of revisions. I do like how it turned out, though. Plus I got to introduce the concept of a "Moebius balcony"!
Have you at all considered fundraising to make razorwings a genetic possibility? I would like a litter. (Colony?)
If I may quote Egon Spengler, I think that would be an extraordinarily bad idea. Do you really want a bunch of playfully feral kittens who can chew through metal and slice off a human arm with their wings running around your house spitting paralytic poison on everything? Though that would be cute…
Genetic tampering aside, my publisher and I are considering the possibility of a Kickstarter to make some razorwing plushies, but we need to wait for the book's readership to grow a little more, first. More and more people are reading it each day, though, so, I don't know, maybe this summer? (Keep watching Michaelgmunz.com for news!)
And I believe a group of cats is called a "clowder." Though razorwings themselves travel in swarms…
I WOULD FUND THAT SO HARD. Are you working on any books now?
I'm doing my best to get the third book in my cyberpunk series (The New Aeneid Cycle) completed in time for a late 2015 release. It's called A Dragon at the Gate, and will conclude the trilogy. It's an interesting challenge to make sure the series culminates in a powerful, satisfying way, and I'm excited to see if I can pull it off.
I'm a big fan of cyberpunk, I'll have to check out that series as well. Hades has dominion over those who are no longer with us. If you could chat with any three people, living or dead, who would they be and why?
1) Leonardo da Vinci. I'm sure he was a fascinating guy in general, and it'd be fun to tell him about the modern world and see what he thinks of it. 2) Homer (the author of The Iliad and The Odyssey, not the Simpsons character), assuming he actually existed. The guy was one of the earliest known storytellers, and that, along with his obvious interest in Greek mythology (would he even term it "mythology"?) is pretty tempting. 3) This one's personal.
This is really just a fangirlish request and not even really a question: More Hecate and Hades, pretty please!
Well, I make no promises, but one idea I'm toying with for a Zeus Is Dead sequel does involve Hecate, despite what happened. And there might just be a way for Hades to be involved in that.
…or maybe I'll just toss something together with vampires.
I won't get my hopes up, but I will eagerly await the sequel regardless. Thank you again for being a part of Bitches n Prose!
