Novels On The Run: INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR ANDY GAVIN CO CREATOR OF CRASH BANDICOOT AND JAK AND DAXTER , AMONG MANY OTHER THINGS...THE BOY IS AMAZING!!!!

Friday, March 9, 2012

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR ANDY GAVIN CO CREATOR OF CRASH BANDICOOT AND JAK AND DAXTER , AMONG MANY OTHER THINGS...THE BOY IS AMAZING!!!!

I would like to welcome Andy Gavin to Novels On The Run today and thank him for taking the time to answer my Q's.

I still think this guy has snuck Hermoine's time watch thingy that Dumbledore gave her to give her more time in the day to get everything done....he is rather amazing what he has achieved and still is achieving.........

What I have learnt from researching Andy Gavin is...... now you have to keep up with me here everybody:

Serial Creative, novelist , entrepreneur, polymath ( google, where are you?) , computer programmer, author, foodie and video game creator. He co founded video game developer ‘Naughty Dog’ at the age of fifteen, co created ‘Crash Bandicoot’ ( Oh yeah, I have gotten up in the levels with my kids, could never seem to lose that annoying habit of waving the controller in the air in the hope Crash would do as I requested..hehe!) and Jak & Daxter, a mere 40 million units sold.

Yes, my mouth was catching flies too...

Now keep up people.....Andy was making video games with his mate Jason Rubin at age thirteen. I think I was earning a couple bucks rolling marbles at lunch time in the school yard. I know I’m not impressing anybody...well I was pretty good at the marbles. Now by my calculations I am a smidge older than Andy...shock horror, age is but a number. I am still coming up for air with everything he has achieved. I could have tried to take on the 23.5 beers consumed in one night, but alas I hate beer, and alas I probably would have passed out by number 8, oh let’s be a devil and say I could chug down 11 while being propped up, semi conscious.

I have just noticed he also reviews books. Having spoken to Andy via email, he has read over 10,000 books, the boy does not sleep. Now here I am in my life thinking I am busy......oh, Michelle stop making excuses..ha! *looks in the mirror* Missy you need to take a good look at your time management.

Now I decided to interview Andy...OMG!!! Andy has a blog, he reviews books, television, takes photos of food and the list goes on plus all of the above and then some.....* breathe Michelle *

So, I have to think what am I going to ask Andy? He is a family man, he has a dog and majored in Neurobiology. ( I am secretly too scared to even goggle that one, I might want to tell my parents off for not requesting a bigger brain for their daughter, who am I kidding, my parents are getting a complaint letter from me!) Andy is as thorough with his web pages as he is with time management. He leaves no stone unturned. Did I mention he has a photographic memory? ( like mum and dad are in BIG trouble!)

I imagine Andy sleep walking writing reviews, reading and eating. I am beyond impressed what one human being can achieve. So I shall attempt to find some stones unturned and bring a smashing interview to the people.

Michelle: Andy in 10 words only, please describe your personality.

I know, I am just warming up.

Andy: I need to create stuff. Fast.

Yes, he certainly is doing a smashing job of that.

Michelle: Could you please describe an average day in the life of Andy Gavin?

I’m not being nosey I have stones to unturn.

Andy: Wake. Make a great cappuccino. Update twitter, blog etc. Spend a few minutes with my kid. Work out. Try to get a bunch of work done in the morning. Quick lunch at home or good lunch out with someone. More work. Hopefully an elaborate dinner. Bedtime rituals with my son. Watch TV with my wife. Go watch a movie or read after she goes to bed. Sleep. Repeat.

Rinse and repeat...

Michelle: 'The Darkening Dream' is your first novel. You have a second novel coming out in 2012, titled, ‘Untimed’ a YA time travel book. I have checked out your blurb, sounds like a cool book. Are you able to please give us a fave quote of yours from ‘The Darkening Dream' and ‘Untimed’ that gives nothing away?

http://all-things-andy-gavin.com/untimed/

Andy: From TDD: “It was not the most enjoyable meal but it did provide a kind of quick and dirty satisfaction. He likened it to the difference between a lover savored all night in the harem and a virgin sodomized during the bloody sack of a city.”

Andy: From Untimed: "In my book, a guy wearing scarlet high heels is reckless any time of day."

Michelle: Who is your favourite character from 'The Darkening Dream' and why?

Andy: Al-Nasir, (my 900 year-old vampire). He's just so deliciously evil – and therefore fun to write.

http://all-things-andy-gavin.com/the-darkening-dream/characters/al-nasir/

Michelle: Who was the hardest character to develop when writing The Darkening Dream and why?

Andy: I had the most difficulty with the secondary characters without POVs, namely Sam and Anne. Giving them a lot of character and an active role without the interior monologue was challenging.

Michelle: What song do you think best describes Pastor Parris and Betty’s relationship?

Andy: I’d go with a tune like Loreena McKennitt’s “The Mystic’s Dream.”

http://all-things-andy-gavin.com/the-darkening-dream/characters/parris/

Wow!

Michelle: What is a profession or something that Andy Gavin hasn’t yet done , but is next on his list to conquer?

Hey I have a bucket list, I have since realised I have to lift my game.

Andy: Restaurateur. I’ve also been getting certified as a sommelier, with an Italian wine specialty J.

Michelle: Now because you are a foodie, can you tell us one food that you do not like and are you the type of person that will try anything whether it be baked tarantula, or a sloppy egg?

I don’t like brains. Maybe I should have been eating them, Nan may have been on to something all those years she was trying to sneak them into me disguising them as meat balls..hehe!

Andy: I’ll try almost anything once. But the two normal things I hate are raw tomatoes and bananas. Not a big brain fan either.

Now I didn't see those two foods coming....

Michelle: According to Forrest Gump, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates’, what flavour would your chocolate be?

People I am trying to be creative....

Andy: Unpasteurized milk, hazelnut, and amaretto.

Ah!!

Michelle: Can you please tell me one book that rocked your world and why?

Andy: Hyperion by Dan Simmons. My all-time favorite sci-fi book. It has an almost unparalleled sense of scope combined with some very moving stories and fantastic writing.