The Proust Questionnaire, popularized by French essayist and novelist Marcel Proust, is said to reveal a person’s true nature through a series of probing (i.e., nosy) questions. In the hot seat today: F.M. Boughan, author of the YA fantasy, CINDERELLA, NECROMANCER (Month9Books, Sept 5).
What is your idea of perfect happiness? A room full of baby goats, sunshine, and an endless supply of cinnamon buns with thick, cream cheese icing. Actually, forget the cinnamon buns. I’ll just take the bowl of icing.
What is your greatest fear? Looking back at the end of my life and realizing that I’d gotten it all wrong.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Analysis paralysis.
What is the trait you most deplore in others? A lack of compassion.
Which living person do you most admire? Elon Musk. With equal parts admiration and terror.
What is your greatest extravagance? Starbucks Flat Whites.
What is your current state of mind? Paralysis by analysis of question #17.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Orderliness.
On what occasion do you lie? When I don’t know the answer to a blog questionnaire. Other ones, of course. Certainly not this one.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse? “Grande Flat White, please.”
Besides writing, which talent would you most like to have? Juggling. Or drawing. I can doodle a mean sheep (no, literally, a mean one… he’s perpetually cross), but that’s about the extent of my visual artistry.
What do you consider your greatest achievement? One time I drank seven cups of coffee in under an hour, until the waitress at Pizza Hut cut me off for “talking too fast.”
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? A squirrel.
What is your most treasured possession? A sherd of pottery that I definitely did not salvage from the spoil heap during an archaeological dig.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Waking up in the morning to discover that there is no coffee and therefore no hope or purpose to existence on that particular day.
What do you most value in your friends? Adherence to Wheaton’s Law.
Who are your favorite writers? Classic: Tolkien; Lewis; L’Engle; Eddings. Current: Jane Yolen; Holly Lisle; Gretchen McNeil; Maureen Johnson; Leigh Bardugo; Rick Riordan. And myriad others, but we only have so much time here…
Who is your hero of fiction? Lara Croft.
Which historical figure do you most identify with? Unsinkable Sam.
What is your motto? “Ice cream is a perfectly valid dinner selection.”
F.M. BOUGHAN is a bibliophile, a writer, and an unabashed parrot enthusiast. She can often be found writing in local coffee shops, namely because it’s hard to concentrate with a cat lying on the keyboard and a small, colorful parrot screaming into her ear. Her work is somewhat dark, somewhat violent, somewhat hopeful, and always contains a hint of magic. Find F.M. on her website, Instagram, Bookstagram, Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.
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