To celebrate the release of his latest novel, The Quiet People, we asked author Paul Cleave to share a few things that readers may not know about him, so they can get to know him better! Here's what he had to reveal...
1. I’m a closet Trekkie. I don’t dress up in the uniforms and go to conventions, but I’d consider it if I had the opportunity. I have Star Trek posters in most rooms of the house, and memorabilia scattered everywhere, from Tribbles to Gorns to Enterprise bottle openers. If I could choose any job in the world, it would be to write for Star Trek. Or, better yet, to captain a space ship.
2. Growing up I had zero athletic ability – I think in part because I’m blind in one eye, so could never see a fast moving ball.
I played tennis for the first time in my life when I was in my mid-30s, and have stuck with it a little. If I was being chased by a bear through the woods, I’d be toast before I could hide behind a tree. If a shark came for me there’d be little I could do since I can barely swim. And yet I still hold onto the hope that one day I’ll be good at these things.
I can, however, solve a Rubik’s Cube in under two minutes.
3. I once did a donut in a car at a funeral by accident.
We were all parked near the burial plot my aunt was just lowered in to. After the service, I gave the car I was borrowing a little too much gas, and the front wheels bit into the lawn and the rest of the car did a full 360, coming to a stop in the exact same place it started. All the family and mourners were covered in mud.
I drove away slowly and didn’t go to the wake.
4. I’ve always had cats. My current two are microchipped so they’re the only ones who can use the cat door because neighbours’ cats kept coming in to steal their food. I can never kick a cat off me no matter how uncomfortable I am. If I close a bedroom or lounge door, they’ll claw the carpet through to the Earth’s core.
During a workday they often come into the office for cuddles, and they won’t take no for an answer. In the morning they’ll paw at my face to wake me up.
5. I used to watch horror movies all night long on Christmas Eve with a buddy of mine when we were teenagers.
One Christmas, as I was leaving around 6am, we heard a huge bang from around the corner. We sprinted there, and found a guy standing outside a smashed up car begging for help because his girlfriend was dead. We had to wrench the car door open to get to her. She was a mess.
We got her breathing again, and she was in a coma for a few weeks and had broken a ton of bones and punctured her lungs, but she pulled through.
30 years later I can remember it like it was yesterday, and yet I can’t remember her name. I’ve always wondered what happened to her after that.
MORE FROM BOOKS: Five things I'd like my readers to know about me, by Will Carver