Martha O'Connor Takes the Fly Survey

Martha O'Connor, who is on the GCC with me, is the author of The Bitch Posse, which is now out in paperback! Three outcast high school girls have their lives changed forever on a fateful night that haunts them far into adulthood...
sounds good, eh? It was a bestseller in England under the title The Bitch Goddess Notebook.

Technically, The Bitch Posse is an adult title, but the Washington Post Book World said: "Compulsively readable... delicious and slightly macabre. It's easy to see Posse as the descendant of [Julian F. Thompson's The Grounding of Group 6] and other thrillingly gloomy YA classics such as John Neufeld's Lisa, Bright and Dark, Joanne Greenberg's I Never Promised You a Rose Garden or Paul Zindel's oeuvre...."
oh,
and Cosmo calls it a "sizzling page-turner."

Martha wrote us a great musical icon boyfriend list, last time she visited, and has a very interesting blog that I like to read. It has actual intelligent interviews with our fellow GCC members (as opposed to ridiculous lists and surveys, a la me) -- and some dang cute dog pictures as well.

She's also a serious advocate for health research on diabetes. As someone with diabetes in my family, I encourage you to learn a little more and consider making a donation at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Without further ado, Ms. Martha takes the fly survey, in which she proves herself to have good taste in superheroes, a good heart, and a bullet-to-the-point prose style wordy little me would be well-advised to learn from.

--E

The Fly on the Wall Survey
questions by me, answers by Martha O'Connor

1) If you could be a fly on the wall somewhere, anywhere – where?
The Oval Office. And then just watch the sparks fly, baby…

2) If you could have one superpower, what?
To cure diseases.

3) What is your superhero name? Why?
Super Slob—just look at my office!

4) Who is your favorite superhero?
Spider-Man, because he’s so deep and complex.

5) Favorite non-super hero?
Dr. Frederick Banting, discoverer of insulin. Insulin keeps my son alive every day, so I am very grateful for Banting’s work! (And that of his co-discoverers, Charles Best, James Collip, and J. R. R. McLeod)

6) Recommend us a superhero movie.
Spider-Man 2 is quite good. It was beautifully conceived. Michael Chabon wrote the screenplay, in fact. Fab!

7) If you could turn in to any animal, what? Why?
A sloth, because then I could just sleep all day long.

8) Do you (or have you ever) read comic books? What? When?
As a little kid, I used to read Archie and Veronica, Mickey Mouse, and Wonder Woman. In college I read The SandMan by Neil Gaiman. That really opened up my mind to what comics could be and what they could do. That was followed by Art Spiegelman’s Maus (also brilliant), and A Child’s Life and Other Stories by Phoebe Gloeckner. And we can’t forget R. Crumb!
I think through the graphic novel, disturbing issues can be explored very effectively and poignantly. If I could draw anything beyond stick figures, I’d try to write one.