Infrequently Asked Questions

Q. What the Sam Hill is a "Slywy"?

A. "Slywy" is a nickname I've heard for the (sadly) now-defunct Scots band, Silly Wizard. You can learn more about them and see a photo of them in their youth (heh) here. Andy M. Stewart's site is http://www.andymstewart.com/, while Phil Cunningham's is imaginatively located at http://www.philcunningham.com/. Raise a glass to the late, much loved Johnny Cunningham's site at http://johnnycunningham.com/.

Q. What is a "delenn"?

A. What rock have you been hiding under? :) (Although I suspect I'm really a combination of Delenn and Lennier . . .)

Q. Why did your parents name your brother "Virgil"?

A. He'd like to know why, too. E-mail him with your theories. Apparently, it was better than the other alternative they'd come up with (think Eisenhower), which we'd better not get into. "Virgil" is the name of my dad's favourite cousin. Frankly, however, between Diane and Virgil, my folks sound like Latin scholars. :)

Q. Why should I be "very afraid" of him?

A. If you're asking that, you'll have to find out the difficult way. My apologies in advance.

Q. What was it like to grow up in a trailer park?

A. Not as bad as you might think. Sure, the quarters were small, but that makes for a tighter-knit, more tolerant family. :) Our particular mobile home was at the end of a row, with young woods behind it and a large field next to it. Great horned owls, whippoorwills, woodpeckers, deer, rabbits, and other assorted wildlife. I really never understood how people could stand to live in houses with just a teeny yard for outdoor space—how spiritually dulling and stagnant and asinine. To this day, I miss that open space, although I am blessed by the multitudes of parkland in Hyde Park—much mowed, but some left to go to nature. If I had nowhere like that within walking distance, I'd go mad. It's my "third place," as the late Mike Royko would have said. To this day, I miss the peace and the privacy of those woods and the field, and they figure in my dreams as vast, mysterious places, with all kinds of places to get lost in the most pleasant of ways. In reality, there is now a funeral home where the woods used to be, and there is no more field, either. And no justice . . .

Q. Why did you call your late cat Pudge "Evil One"?

A. How do you know that she didn't call herself that? ;)

Q. How did Hodge get his name?

A. I sought suggestions for names from friends, and the best suggestion was Hodge, after Dr Sam Johnson's cat. It's a great origin, and the "dge" resonates with Pudge.

Q. How long have you been writing?

A. In my head, since birth. It's just putting it down that is the hard part. And some things aren't meant to be shared. It's a craft I will never master.

Q. If you could be anything you wanted to be, what would it be?

A. Fictional. Next? :)

Q. What is a "copywriter"?

A. I was hoping you could tell me . . . but, no, it has nothing to do with "copyrights." For some reason, people get confused about this. Sort of like thinking there is a word "playwrite." (It's really "playwright.")

Q. What does it mean to be an INFP?

A. INFPs are about one to four percent of the world's population. It means being really alone and really misunderstood. If you were an INFP, you'd understand! ;)

Q. Are you really a silly waste of space?

A. Yes.

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