Today I have G. Arthur Brown answering some questions about writing and monsters. He's the author of Kitten and part of the New Bizarro Author Series available through Eraserhead Press. You can purchase his book through Amazon by clicking on the cover below. Find out more about his writing at his site:  http://garthurbrown.blogspot.com
Tell us about yourself.
I’m from Maryland. Nuff said. 
How long have you been writing?
All the time.
Do you have any rituals when you write?
I like to procrastinate a lot. That takes up a significant portion of time and energy. When I do start writing, I type, and I like to do instantaneous fact checking, so I get a chance to procrastinate on the internet while I find out if the Vernal Equinox is on the 21st or 23rd.  
Is there any one thing that inspires you?
Reading great writing tends to inspire me to write, which makes it hard for me to stay focused on reading really good books. So I’ve switched to just reading Dan Brown and Danielle Steele.  
Who or what was your bogey man when you were growing up?
Mr. Yuck, the green icky face on the Poison Control stickers. They had commercials in the late 70s that were as scary as shit to a three year old me. And it had this disturbing jingle, “Mr. Yuck is mean, Mr. Yuck is green.” My mother put a sticker on the phone, because it had the number for poison control on it. And I wouldn’t walk by the phone on my own, which made it difficult for me to get to the bathroom. It was the most terrifying shit in the world. 
Who do you think is scarier? A fictitious monster (werewolf or zombie) or one that could be real (a psychopath)?
It’s probably scarier that my mind can imagine horrible monsters of any type. All that evil is within me, somewhere, waiting to be summoned. And people who write really realistic serial killer fiction do freak me out a little bit. 
If you're being chased by a monster would you look over your shoulder behind you to see how close it was?
Not unless I thought the monster was kind of hot.  
In the way of tradition monsters do you prefer the old traditions? Example: Vampires and sunlight, werewolves and the cycles of the moon, and stumbling zombies. Or you do you like the break out of new and improved monsters? Example: Indestructible vampires, werewolves shifting at will, and runner zombies?
Interesting. I’m not sure what era gets defined as traditional. Bram Stoker’s vampires weren’t destroyed by sunlight.  They were just weakened by it, couldn’t change form in the daylight. There are dozens of legends that were made into the composite of VAMPIRE that we now have. There’s an Italian variation of the vampire with only one nostril. That’s what I prefer. One nostril on my vampires. The supervampires from Blade II are also kind of awesome. Maybe I want my vampires to be day-walkers serving time for income tax evasion.  
I actually am really retro with my preferences. Zombies, to me, are mindless slaves brought back from the grave, which comes from the voodoo tradition. And from Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Ghouls are the ones who want to eat you. But these definitions are constantly evolving.   
Here is the mother loaded question. The apocalypse has fallen upon us. Society and government has collapsed. All of technology and conveniences of modern day have crumbled. Groups of survivors are gathering the remnants of what is left and trying to rebuild a new world. You have to start over from scratch. You have nothing. You have to build your own house, grow your own food, and make your own fuel, medicine, and clothing. The question is this: What is the one thing (thing, not person) you would miss the most from the world you live in now?
I would find it fascinating making my own medicine. Where do I get a pestle and mortar in this new world?  My television won’t work, but my pestle and mortar are still intact. Strange sort of apocalypse. I guess I would miss all the ridiculous names that pharmaceutical companies give to drugs. I would try to recreate the effect, but to ill effect. Fuccitol. 
Chocolate: milk, white, or dark?
Dark.
Are you a night or day person?
I try to be a night person. My job has been interfering, though. I work at 4 AM.  
Favorite song or band?
Way too hard to narrow down. I like many types of music, many era. Devo is a good answer though. Let’s say Devo. 
Favorite book?
Man… let’s say Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link. So many great, magical, dream-like stories. 
Favorite movie? 
Time Bandits is the stock answer. I don’t know if it really is my favorite, but it’s one I've liked since I saw it in the theater at age 4. I’ve seen it a million times and I still love it. There are lots of things about it that don’t make any sense, like the ancient Greeks speaking modern English, but it doesn't matter. I think the portrayal of Evil and the Supreme Being have had incalculable influence on the way I present those sorts of characters in my writing. 
Thanks for stopping by G. and answering my random and crazy questions. And for anyone reading this, don't forget to check out Kitten.