Kathe Koja's Would You Rather

Bored with the same old fashioned author interviews you see all around the blogosphere? Well, TNBBC's newest series is a fun, new, literary spin on the ole Would You Rather game. Get to know the authors we love to read in ways no other interviewer has. I've asked them to pick sides against the same 20 odd bookish scenarios. And just to spice it up a bit, each author gets to ask their own Would You Rather question to the author who appears after them....

Kathe Koja's 

Would You Rather

photo by Rick Lieder

Would you rather write an entire book with your feet or with your tongue?

Tongue = verbal.

Would you rather have one giant bestseller or a long string of moderate sellers?

Strings last longer than giants do.

Would you rather be a well known author now or be considered a literary genius after you’re dead?

Rather the work be known now AND remembered. The author part is nice but not necessary.

Would you rather write a book without using conjunctions or have every sentence of your book begin with one?

The latter, absolutely.

Would you rather have every word of your favorite novel tattooed on your skin or always playing as an audio in the background for the rest of your life?

Skin, because skin changes, scars might alter the text, surgeries edit, etc. Background noise = hell.

Would you rather write a book you truly believe in and have no one read it or write a crappy book that comprises everything you believe in and have it become an overnight success?

Ewwww. Belief please!

Would you rather write a plot twist you hated or write a character you hated?

I can’t hate my characters and write about them, they’d become cardboard figures without any feeling or depth. I have indeed written plot twists I “hated” in the sense that, oh, I wish this wasn’t going to happen to you, Mr. Character, but that’s the way the story’s going, so what must be must be. Sometimes these events surprise me too.

Would you rather use your skin as paper or your blood as ink?

Blood. Heartfelt.

Would you rather become a character in your novel or have your characters escape the page and reenact the novel in real life?

Oh, the latter please! Is this possible? Can we do it with other people’s books too!?

Would you rather write without using punctuation and capitalization or without using words that contained the letter E?

Love the E. Goodbye, semicolons.

Would you rather have schools teach your book or ban your book?

Depends on the school.

Would you rather be forced to listen to Ayn Rand bloviate for an hour or be hit on by an angry Dylan Thomas?

Dylan all the way.

Would you rather be reduced to speaking only in haiku or be capable of only writing in haiku?

Five syllables is

A hindrance, but in books it

Would hurt so much more.

Would you rather be stuck on an island with only the 50 Shades Series or one that was written in a language you couldn't read?

Language that I couldn't read - I'd have plenty of time to puzzle it out, and leave the island (if I left!) in better linguistic shape than I landed.

Would you rather critics rip your book apart publically or never talk about it at all?

It’s always nice to be noticed.

Would you rather have everything you think automatically appear on your Twitter feed or have a voice in your head narrate your every move?

Both are hellish. Abstain!

Would you rather give up your computer or pens and paper?

Oh, so complementary! A sad question. In the end, paper and pencils win for ease of operation.

Would you rather write an entire novel standing on your tippy-toes or laying down flat on your back?

Toes.

Would you rather read naked in front of a packed room or have no one show up to your reading?

Depends what I was reading.

Would you rather read a book that is written poorly but has an excellent story, or read one with weak content but is written well? 

Well-written all the way. can’t read the other kind, like eating gravel ice cream, keep cracking teeth, gagging, etc.

And here is Kathe's response to the question Kelly Davio asked her last week:

Would you rather have to use profanity on every page of your book, or nowhere in your book?

 Every.

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Check back next week to see what Collin Kelley would rather

 and see her answer to Kathe's question:

Would you rather read all day or write all day?

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Kathe Koja is a writer and event creator/producer based in Detroit. Her fifteenth novel, THE MERCURY WALTZ, sequel to the critically-acclaimed UNDER THE POPPY, is scheduled for fall 2013, as is a short fiction collection, GONE TO EXTREMES. UNDER THE POPPY's immersive theatrical performance premiered earlier this year.