Larsen Idealog

Interview with John Andreini, first-place winner in the Answers.com Creative Writing Challenge

Congratulations to John Andreini, Senior Writer at Larsen, who was today awarded first place in the Answers.com Creative Writing Challenge. John's  detective fiction entry — "The Shrieking of the Monkeys" — correctly used the 10 words specified by Answers.com in a humorous, suspenseful drama. We spoke with John this morning, shortly after he received the award.

Q: Your story had to include these 10 words: fifth-column, gazpacho, agog, horripilation, simian, fug, opus, salad days, abscond, Kew Gardens. I have to ask: Did you already know the meaning of all these words?

A: I knew the meaning of some of the words, but others, like Kew Gardens and horripilation, sent me to the dictionary.

Q: Which word was the toughest to work into the story?

A: Horripiliation, without a doubt. Before I looked it up I thought it was some stage of being horrified, but it’s actually another way of talking about goose bumps. It seemed a bit of a stretch to imagine a private investigator having this word in his vocabulary, but apparently it worked.
 
Q: I’m assuming the required word simian inspired your story title “The Shrieking of the Monkeys.” Is that true?

A: It did, but it was also influenced by one of my favorite movies, “The Silence of the Lambs.” There’s another subtle reference to the movie in the story.

Q: Your story is detective fiction and builds quite a bit of dramatic tension in less than 750 words. Is this a genre you prefer?

A: I do like the hard-boiled detective genre, and it’s really fun to write. The clipped, spare dialogue is a challenge because every word carries a lot of weight.

Q: Talk to us about your main character Brock Holberman, private investigator, salted nut roll binger. Is he at all autobiographical?

A: Wow, I hope not. Brock is an amalgam of Film Noir detectives like Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe and Jake Gittes, although Brock would be the least intelligent of the group. I do like gazpacho, though.

Q: Why Savannah?

A: It’s such a beautiful word. I have three boys, but if I had a daughter, I would want to name her Savannah.

Q: Are you willing to share how you’ll spend your prize money?

A: Good books to read during a snowy Minnesota winter. 

Thanks, John, for speaking with us. And congratulations!

Read all posts by John Andreini.