Mercury Falls (Mercury Series)

Robert Kroese: Saying "The Bible" is cheating, right?

I guess I ll go with Douglas Adams s Hitchhiker s Guide to the Galaxy. That book provided the template for novels like Mercury Falls. Adams demonstrated that you could get away with putting your characters on a spaceship without ever describing what the spaceship looked like. Adams s attitude was: "Okay, now they re on a spaceship. You all know what a spaceship is, right? Good." And then he would move on to something really important, like a character s quest for a good cup of tea.

Question: What is the worst lie you've ever told?

Robert Kroese: When I was maybe ten years old, I was up late reading when I was supposed to be in bed. I heard my mom coming down the hall toward my door and I knew I was going to be in big trouble if she caught me out of bed. So I flicked off the light, took two steps and dove headlong into bed. About a half second later, while the bedsprings were still creaking, my mom opened the door. I was lying diagonally on bed, spread-eagled on top of the bedspread as my mom peered in at me. Feeling the need to reassure my mother that everything was kosher, I blurted out, "I M JUST SLEEPING THIS WAY!"

That was the worst lie I ever told.

Question: Describe the perfect writing environment.

Robert Kroese: A clean, well-lit place. With high-speed Internet access and MS Word.

Question: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

Robert Kroese: "If you can read this, you re too close."

Question: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?

Robert Kroese: I think I d really enjoy watching Woody Allen eat lobster.

Question: If you could have one superpower what would it be?

Robert Kroese: I d like to be Super-taster, who can identify all the ingredients in any food he eats. "What is this, paprika? I knew it."