PurpleCar

I straddle the fence between the geeky on-line world and the nerdy writing world, and ne’er the twain shall meet.

But the rule for all worlds, virtual or otherwise, is “Wait For It.”

Well, looks I’m done waiting…

11 QUESTIONS FOR MEDIA MAVENS ABOUT READING

Due to the little tiny bit of controversy in my “riding fences” post, I asked a few media mavens to answer a few quick questions about their reading habits and how they see themselves as readers.

A big thank you from me goes out to the participants from our small social media circle. Still waiting to hear back from iJustine, but here are the participants in this impromptu study: DYKC, CC Chapman, Annie Boccio, Julia Roy, Eric Rice, Amanda Gravel, Chris Brogan, Jeff Pulver and Ewan Spence.

I am breaking the results up across several posts, in the interest of spacing.

Please leave a comment with your answers/thoughts; I’ve posted the questions below to copy and paste. Thanks, and enjoy!

1. In one (can be hyphenated!) word, how would you describe your career, culture or identity. E.g., “I am a(n) ________.”
2. Do you think this identity has been represented well in art (including fiction, film, poetry)?
3. What do you typically do on long trips (plane, train, auto) for entertainment?
4. What traditional paper & print media, if any, do you read on a regular basis?
5. What is the last fiction novel or short story you remember reading? When was this?
6. What is your preferred genre for fiction and/or non-fiction?
7. Would you rather read a novel or listen to it?
8. Approximately how many page books do you buy in a year for yourself or other adults?
9. Please pick up the book nearest to you now. What are the first and last words? What is the title?
10. You’ve just been given $300 gift card to Borders right before a 3-week trip to an ‘off the grid’ island. What do you buy?
11. What connections, if any, do you see between social media and traditional fiction?

1. In one (can be hyphenated!) word, how would you describe your career, culture or identity.  E.g., “I am a(n)  ________.”

EWAN SPENCE: Internet-bum
JEFF PULVER:  I am Polymorphic.

2.  Do you think this identity has been represented well in art (including fiction, film, poetry)?

EWAN SPENCE: Yes, for example Hiro in Snow Crash.
JEFF PULVER:   I’m not sure. Maybe in Sci-Fi.

3. What do you typically do on long trips (plane, train, auto) for entertainment?

EWAN SPENCE: Consume media, normally TV shows or old war films on a Sony PSP. I tend to travel with the PSP and use the Wi-fi feature (podcast) and the H.264 codecs (video)
JEFF PULVER:   I close my eyes and hear music in my head. I close my eyes and dream about tomorrow and think about the days ahead.

4. What traditional paper & print media, if any, do you read on a regular basis?

EWAN SPENCE: Lots of books (especially one that have that old book smell) from Amazon Z Shops, and The Sunday Post (http://www.dcthomson.co.uk/MAGS/POST/)
JEFF PULVER:  while I’d love to say WSJ, NYT the answer is none.

5. What is the last fiction novel or short story you remember reading?  When was this?

EWAN SPENCE: Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi, on the flight to Barcelona, so about 4 hours ago.
JEFF PULVER:  Most of John Grisham and Michael Criton

6. What is your preferred genre for fiction and/or non-fiction?

EWAN SPENCE: Science Fiction.
JEFF PULVER:   Fiction

7. Would you rather read a novel or listen to it?

EWAN SPENCE: Read it.
JEFF PULVER:   Read.

8. Approximately how many page books do you buy in a year for yourself or other adults?

EWAN SPENCE: Ehrm, I suspect just under one a week on average, so 45?
JEFF PULVER:   I buy books that I never read. Mostly computer/geek books.

9.  Please pick up the book nearest to you now.  What are the first and last words?  What is the title?

EWAN SPENCE: Gregor and winners.  (Title, Ewan?)
JEFF PULVER:  when, sugars – “the ultimate guide to accurate CARB counting”

10. You’ve just been given $300 gift card to Borders right before a 3-week trip to an ‘off the grid’ island.  What do you buy?

EWAN SPENCE: The collected works of Hugh Walters, Lori Summers, and then I’ll put the lights out and grab the balance in random books.
JEFF PULVER:  the lastest John Grisham Book.

11. What connections, if any, do you see between social media and traditional fiction?

EWAN SPENCE: I’m too tired, can I just say ‘lots’ and wax lyrical about story telling, camp fires, etc…
JEFF PULVER:   well, twitter is my social media tofu. So I would look to twitter as a way to communicate my feelings about books. And authors.