Super Duper Quickie Interview with Brent Hartinger.

Brent Hartinger -- he's the author of Geography Club, Last Chance Texaco, The Order of the Poison Oak and Grand & Humble -- was super-fabulous enough to jump on the SDQI train.  Enjoy!  (Then go read his books, damnit!  They all rule.)

Book Currently Reading:

Alas, I never read one book at a time. I'm currently reading PEACE LIKE A RIVER by Leif Enger (so far it seems like a big bowl of raw broccoli); BANEWREAKER by Jacqeline Carey (like it so far, but we'll see if it holds up to the KUSHIEL books); and UGLIES by Scott Westerfeld (love it). I just finished THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini (very over-rated, but timely, so I can see why it broke out); and THE COMMITMENT by Dan Savage (even better than THE KID, which I also loved).

CDs Currently in Rotation:

The soundtrack to BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. God, that EmmyLou Harris song, "A Love That Will Never Grow Old," just slays me every time. Other than that, my usual alt-country stuff: Johnny Cash, Lucinda Williams, EmmyLou again, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, even the Dixie Chicks.

Last Movie Viewed:

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, for the second time. I'm obsessed, okay? It's a great movie! I also love cheesy sci-fi or fantasy, so I've always got something on the DVD player like FANTASTIC VOYAGE, PLANET OF THE APES, or the animated works of Ray Harryhausen.

Literary Crush:

That's a really interesting question. When I was a teenager, I sure had a thing for Ponyboy Curtis in THE OUTSIDERS, but then again, who didn't?

Pet Peeve:

Well, lately, it's critics who give away the endings of books in their reviews. There is a special place in hell for that, I tell ya. Honestly, who could be so thoughtless?

Current Obsessions:

Um, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN? I'm also totally into 24, which is as good as ALIAS was in its prime. Bookwise, I read many different genres, and all I ask is that the story moves, the stakes are high, and I give a damn about the characters involved. Give me that, and I'll be obsessed by your book too.

Guilty Pleasures:

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS. Did I mention I like cheesy fantasy? But that's cutting this show short, because when it's firing on all cylinders, it is brilliant entertainment.

Favorite Word:

It's not a single word, but lately I've been using these expressions a lot: "I wish I knew how to quit you!", "What you can't change, you just got to ride out." and "That Brokeback Mountain got us good."