A few weeks back, I invited readers of this blog to nominate their favorite WEbookers to receive the unparalleled honor of being named WEbooker of the WEek. I received lots of nominations, and witnessed countless acts of outstanding WEbooking. When the dust cleared, one very special WEbooker outshone all the rest. He was nominated by WEbook’s biggest fan, GranisGrazin, and his name, ladies and gentlemen, is RikScott.
According to RikScott’s profile, he’s
participated in NaNoWriMo five times,
and completed the challenge to write an entire 50,000-word novel in one month four out of
those five times. Let me say that
again: RikScott has written a whole
novel in one month. Four times. This seems inconceivable – until you
check out his WEbook ouevre and see that this guy is absolutely,
100% the real deal. He leads twelve
active projects, and has submissions in twenty-one other projects. Ordinarily, I would count up all his
submissions and let you know the total count, but, frankly, there’s a reason I
majored in English instead of math.
Quantity, of course, is not everything, and that’s what makes RikScott so special. His work is funny, energetic, and extremely contagious – every time I read one of his entries in the Semi-Circular File or The Pure Imagination Dictionary (such as psychosematicopharmicologicalschematographographer), I find myself overcome with a nearly irresistible urge to drop whatever I’m doing and devote the rest of my day to writing snappy, imaginative WEbook submissions. If WEbook has already caused you to miss three big deadlines at work, you might want to avoid checking out RikScott’s stuff. If you’re looking for a little jolt of vicarious writing energy, he’s just the thing.
RikScott spent five years in the U.S. Army Special Forces, serving in both Vietnam and Thailand. He has attended seventeen schools, including one where he received a business degree, and the most valuable thing all that schooling taught him is how to type. RikScott also loves music, acting, and radio. With the help of a friend, he’s transformed his garage into a recording studio, where he works on radio plays, sound effects, background music, and recording – as his time on WEbook permits, of course.
RikScott has been with WEbook for about five weeks, and in his very own words, “they have been some of the most amazing, glorious and productive weeks I can ever remember at a word processor. There are days when I spend twelve hours or more logged in and reading, reviewing, and writing! Most of what I have posted here has been written directly into the WEbook editor, something I enjoy doing as it makes participation here more immediate and fun.”
Dying to know more? RikScott was kind enough to answer my most urgent and irrelevant questions.
Q: What was your biggest childhood fear?
A: As a child I was issued a full set of normal fears: Being separated from my family in a crowded place, unexpected loud noises, and being forced to eat foreign vegetables at a friend's house for dinner. But the scariest thing, I think, was the dark. Blessed (or cursed – you decide) with an active imagination, I found it impossible not see things when the lights went out. Elsewhere, in a story, I've written that I can actually see air. This is not a joke. I've always been able to see it, and it makes me crazy if I think about it. Worse, I can see darkness. Not just the absence of light, but the actual stuff of darkness. Darkness is made up of tiny floating points of not-quite blackness that swirl and move, if you keep your eyes open and look at them.
Q: What's one thing you love to do that you don't get to do often enough?
A: I love to teach. I love to stand up in front of a large group of
people and teach them something, and make them laugh in the process. My
favorite thing to talk about is the future: How technology will change our lives, and how it is changing everything, all the time. But give me any topic
I'm conversant with – goal setting, writing, blowing things up – and I’ll have
a ball!
Q: If you could have a wrestling match with any person, living or dead,
who would you choose?
A: Ooh. Loaded question. If I answered the question as if it referred to physical wrestling, I would probably embarrass the readers. However, if I could engage in intellectual wrestling – a full-on, no-holds-barred, non-contact match – I would have to say Colin Wilson, a man of incredible mind and depth. I can only imagine what a mind-rush it would be to spend time with a writer who not only writes outside the box, but destroys it first.
Q: Describe your hometown in four words.
A: Seattle. Rainy. Aurora Borealis.
Do you have a line on the wonderfullest writer on WEbook? The fantastickest feedbacker? Or anyone else who goes above and beyond to make WEbook the best writing, reading, and publishing community on the internet? Visit my profile and send me a message with the title “WEbooker of the WEek” to nominate your favorite WEbooker and he or she will have a shot at joining the ranks of the immortals – and getting a free WEbook T-shirt to boot.
-- Melissa
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