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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

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Welcome back to The Pop Quiz at the End of the Universe, a recurring series here on Tor.com featuring some of our favorite science fiction and fantasy authors, artists, and others!

Today we’re joined by Nicola Griffith, author of historical tale Hild, out in paperback on October 28th from Picador. You can read an excerpt from Hild here. She has been a recipient of the Tiptree, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards, the Premio Italia, and the Lambda Literary Award (six times).

Find out what accessory Griffiths thinks the Doctor is long past due to receive, and which color has eluded her for her entire life.

If you could choose your own personal theme music/song to play every time you enter a room, what would you pick?

Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good.” Or maybe Brittany Murphy singing Paul Oakenfold’s “Faster Kill Pussycat.”

If you regenerated as a new Doctor, what would your signature outfit/accessory be?

A pint.

Battle to the death, which weapon do you choose: A) Phaser, B) Lightsaber, or C) Wand?

Lightsabre of course. I like to think me plus lightsabre would overawe all who stood against me: no battle, no death, just fabulosity.

Name your favorite monster from fiction, film, TV, or any other pop culture source.

Daleks. They scared the crap out of me when I was little. Now I’ve figured out how to defeat them: stairs.

If you had to choose one band or artist to provide the official soundtrack to your (new/last/latest) book, who would it be?

Carl Orff. I wish he had written Carmina Burana for Hild.

What’s your favorite sandwich?

I rarely eat sandwiches anymore (sigh). But I miss most is a chip buttie: really good bread slathered in really good butter and stuffed with big fat home-made fries (chips, as we say in Yorkshire)—hot from the fryer, so the butter drips. Oh I am drooling…

What literary or film science fiction technology do you wish existed in our world right now?

Transporter. I hate, loathe and detest airports.

What was your gateway to SF/Fantasy, as a child or young adult?

When I was 7 or 8 is found a tatty old paperback stuffed behind a bench in a church hall: MZB’s The Colors of Space. I read it in about 2 hours but then spent the next two days driving myself insane trying to imagine the eighth colour. I don’t think I ever recovered.

opens in a new windowHild by Nicola GriffithCast the main characters of your new/upcoming novel (in other words, choose your dream cast for a Hollywood adaptation of your book).

Hild would be Saorsie Ronan. Breguswith my cousin Clare Higgins as she was 15 years ago.

If you were secretly going to write fanfic (or, even better, slashfic) about any two characters, who would they be?

Narnia characters: Jadis and Susan. And then of course I wouldn’t keep it secret: what’s the point of writing something no one sees?

What’s your favorite fairy tale, or fairy tale retelling?

I hate fairy tales. They are cautionary tales designed to frighten the reader—particularly women—into toeing the line. Fuck that.


Photo copyright Jennifer Durham

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