AngusEcrivain sits down with FromTheBar, author of such works as 'Interregnum,' and 'The Split Game.' Want to find out what she's got to say for herself? Aye, 'course you do...

If you had to describe yourself in one word, what words wouldn't you use?

"Wouldn't"? Ok, "blonde" then.

What was your nickname at school?

"Rachel." I went to a Russian school, and when we started learning English, we were told to pick "English" names for ourselves. I picked "Rachel" and it stuck.

When you were a young padowan, what did you want to be when you grew up?

An astronomer.

What is your favourite quote?

"Some play golf and some do not."

Other than writing, what hobbies do you have?

Being lazy. It requires a lot of planning, dedication and investment.

As your crew cast your lifeless body into the core of the nearest star, list three pieces of music likely to be rattling the bulkheads.

I don't think I'd be too too picky by that point. I suppose "Palladio" by Jenkins would be nice. But it's unlikely to be up to me anyway.

If you were one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which one would you be and why?

They have an ambiguous horseman, who is sometimes "conquest" and sometimes "pestilence," depending on the interpretation. I suppose I could be that one, in a pinch. I'd be this benign conquest, with values of "letting people sleep till noon" and "12-hour work week." And if they didn't, I'd threaten them with mild colds.

What was the first piece of writing you were ever truly proud to have written?

I recall being quite full of myself when I scribbled "I wrote that," at the age of five. It was all downhill from there.

Who is your all-time favourite author? How much - if at all - have they influenced your writing style?

I like lots of authors, but if I had to pick one, I'd say Maugham. He wrote very simply (not the pretentious Hemingway "simply," but the kind of simple writing that does not seem to be there, it's so accessible) because he had genuinely interesting things to say. He left a medical practice to travel around the world, did not shy from the strangest places and the strangest people ... he earned his writing, in my opinion. I wish I could say that about myself.

Do you have a muse?

Yes, a clock. I look at how much time I had spent pointlessly lolling around and go, "Gaaaaah!"

Walk us through your writing process. How do you begin and how do you decide when a story is done? What do you use to write, and whereabouts do you use it?

I use a laptop, and I put it in my lap. I begin by thinking about a story, then figure out what I'd like to say, then I go ahead and say it. When I run out of things to say, I'm done. What, somebody does something else? I'd love to know.

Of everything you have written, what is your favourite?

Whatever the last one happens to be. (Because everything that came before sucked, naturally. Or it would have won a Booker already). So it's "Interregnum," for now.

...and what is your fans' favourite?

Easy, "The Pornographer." Because it's got porn in it.

We know some of the big authors, Orson Scott Card and Tolkien, for example, incorporate their religious beliefs into their work. Are you religious? If so, do you incorporate those beliefs into your work?

I'm a zealous atheist. I guess I do incorporate it, through the omission of deities.

Was there one idea that you had that didn't turn out quite the way you envisioned it?

Yes, "spend my life reading books and not stirring from the couch." Really did not work out. Everything else more or else fell into place.

Do you use real life experiences to influence your writing?

I think my characters are all kind of paranoid, and then they turn out to have been correct in their paranoia. That's a life experience, definitely.

If an alien race was, unbeknownst to us, watching and studying us from afar, what do you think their primary findings would be?

That we scuttle around too much.

If you were to gain control of some form of time travel device, where - or when - would you go, and why?

I'd go back to bed. I'm so sleep-deprived, it's not even funny.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Invisibility and generally being unlocatable. Although I do gain a measure of this power when I turn off my phone and lie that it had discharged.

Is there a particular moment in history that you would change if you could, regardless of the consequences?

I think I'd cancel WWII. It really was a horrendous bit of slaughter.

The Technological Singularity presents a rather daunting, some say inevitable, future. Does the prospect of that level of Artificial Intelligence excite you, or make you quake in your boots?

I don't see why we don't start with ourselves, with the advent of strong AI. Brain implants, anyone? I'd love it.

Myths and Legends have been around since forever and will most likely continue to grow and develop until we, the human race, are nothing more than a memory but of all such things you have read, what is your favourite 'modern,' interpretation of a particular tale of old?

I don't know. I really like the original stuff. The Norse sagas and the medieval legends especially. But I would love to see "The Epic of Gilgamesh" updated for a modern corporate setting.

And finally, any words of wisdom for new and aspiring writers?

I think Kipling said it best (well, if you adjust for the gender bias and all that):
"If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son!"