Mini-interview with Alexandra Bullen

(This post was originally intended to be part of a RAD, but, well, I guess it isn't.)

What’s the most embarrassing outfit you’ve ever been caught in?
When I was twelve, my parents moved from Boston to a small suburban town. The first day of my new school, I wore this white cotton shirt with puffy, short sleeves and little eyelet flowers. Everybody else was wearing Gap turtlenecks and Limited Too sweaters. I looked like I had just come from a Renaissance Fair. It was a questionable wardrobe choice, and people teased me about it until graduation, but I still maintain that it was a very pretty shirt.

If you could live the life of any fictional character (from a novel, movie, TV show, etc.), who would it be?What an awesome question. I just saw the Tim Burton exhibit at the MOMA in New York, and I kept thinking how fun (and kind of scary) it would be to live in his brain, or any of his movies. Edward Scissorhands or Big Fish would be fun, and, from what I’ve seen, definitely the new Alice in Wonderland movie. The worlds that he creates are so vibrant and quirky. I would love to visit any one of them. (But I’d probably also want the option of coming home!)

Describe yourself in 3 words.
Yikes. Well, I’m a Sagittarius and, according to what I’m sure is a very reliable website with all kinds of pop-up ads for hotlines and things, here’s what I’m supposed to be:

Optimistic, honest and restless.

I guess that’s pretty accurate. I like to pretend that I’m cynical, but I’m definitely a glass-half-full kind of girl at heart.

If you could live during any time period, which would it be?
As totally screwy and confusing as the world is today, I actually think it’s pretty exciting to be alive right now. Things are happening so fast, and while that can be scary, it’s also an incredible privilege. I think, as a woman, I’d be horribly frustrated in any other time. I feel lucky to be here now.

What is the most random thing you find inspiration in?
I’m often inspired to write by riding on trains. It’s very rare that you find yourself sharing such enclosed space with strangers, and for some reason, people tend to be very relaxed on trains (as opposed to airplanes, for example, where it’s a whole lot of quiet and nervous energy…or maybe that’s just me…) so it’s an interesting way to observe people being themselves over an extended period of time. There’s the older woman talking loudly on her cell phone to her dog in Baltimore, the teenagers whispering about their mom in the next car, the guy chewing the end of his pen as he dreams up captions for his graphic novel…it’s basically a writer’s goldmine.

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This mini-interview was brought to you as part of Ms. Alexandra Bullen's blog tour for the release of her novel, Wish.

Don't forget to check out the next stop on the tour tomorrow at http://www.todayiread.com/.