1. Can you tell us your name and the title of the book you live in?
Yah, I don't live in any books. I live in Valhalla. My name is Brunhilde, and some of the stories of your Mundane Norse legends are very similar to my life.
2. Describe to our readers what your role in the book is.
In Magic, Mensa and Mayhem? I was asked by the Mensa Committee of your universe to attend the convention and tell them stories about my life. It was very flattering, plus I am interested in your Mundane world. Like the bodybuilding, yah? I love pumping the iron--iron doesn't bother me--but I really like my bowflex I bought online.
Anyway, they invited me, so I went to talk about my Ride to Hel, but they had many other questions. And the men were so nice and polite. And clean! They sang me funny songs and treated me so nice. And I bought many toothbrushes to take to Valhalla--the ones with Billy Beaver on them. My Vikings like Billy Beaver; makes the brushing more fun. I also bought lots of toothpaste--the minty kind. I like minty.
I was also looking for a new market for my lingerie line, Valyrie's Whisper. So I did some modeling, made some contacts.
I had some fun, too, and got into some trouble playing a practical joke. But it turned out okay in the end, yah?
3. Would you tell us about one of your favorite friends from this book?
Cambridge Ramada--he's a Mundane Mensan and a private investigator specializing in precious artifacts. He and Vern know each other. He's a very large man, but well-groomed and well-dressed. Me-ti-cu-lous, that's the word he taught me. After millennia of kissing men who never shower, I find truly clean men fascinating. He taught me the grooming arts. He even gave me a pedicure set to use on my sweaty Vikings. I hope to meet him again someday.
4. Do you plan on appearing in another book or are you happy to be where you are?
I hope to return to the Mundane now and again. Right now, I'm with my dwarf "friend," Kent. We're setting up a theater in Faerie Australia. I do the costumes; I'm not an actress. However, I think I shall return to Valhalla and my wild, feasting men someday.
5. What would you like our readers to know about you?
I love my rowdy, sweaty Vikings--even if I do like them better when they brush their teeth and comb the food out of their beards.
Oh, and about Siegfried, who was at the convention as well. People wonder why we were not a...coupling? No, a couple. He's a nice enough guy, yah, but he was always trying to be what he thought would impress me, not who he was. I need a man who is comfortable with himself--whether a partying, carousing rude Viking, the meticulous and polite Mundane, or the dwarf who had the courage to shun the mines and pursue his dream of acting. I don't think that's too different from how most girls feel, yah?
6. Did you learn anything during your adventure in this book?
Oh, yah! I learned the pedicuring and the manicuring and about some opera singer named Elmer Fudd. Someday I will need to find his whole Die Walküre performance.
7. Can you tell us what you think is the most exciting thing that happened to you in your book?
No, that's private.
8. Is there anything in your story you wish you had not done? Why?
The biggest thing I've been asked not to reveal--Karina called it a "spoiler." However, I'm sorry I betrayed the trust of my dear dwarf, Kent. Fortunately, he forgave me. His heart is bigger than he is.
9. What was your main motivation?
I'm interested in remaking myself: I started the body sculpting with the weights, then began my own business. Now I'm working on making Valhalla a cleaner, mintier land.
10. Introduce us to your main adversary?
At a Mensa convention? Everyone was so friendly. I didn't have any adversaries.
11. Is there anything you would like to have done?
I would have liked to have met a major supplier for one of your department stores, and attended a bodybuilding competition--just to talk to the participants and get tips, yah?
12. Here's your chance to speak your mind. What do you want to tell everybody?
Don't be afraid of trying new things and making changes in your life--and of working for changes in your society. You think it's easy to get a bunch of rowdy Vikings to take regular baths? But I'm making the small progresses, and you can, too.
Please tell everyone where they can find out more about your story and where they can purchase it.
Magic, Mensa and Mayhem comes out for pre-order from Swimming Kangaroo Press in February and is officially out March 1. http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/.
In the meantime, I know Vern has a website for his DragonEye, PI detective agency, and he has a lot of interesting information there. You can read it at http://www.dragoneyepi.net/. If you register on the website, you get his newsletter and offers on other stories.
