Five Random Questions with BRETT BATTLES

I'm sorry I haven't been around this week. As usual, I'm desperately behind on several projects, and crippled by allergies. Had to cancel plans to spend Easter in Washington, and now I have a full-blown case of allergic pinkeye — I am 45 years old and have never had pinkeye, so this is mortifying as well as painful. Working with one eye open slows me down even more than I would have expected.

Fortunately, my pal Brett Battles has released a new book this week. SICK has the distinction of being my first true e-book; that is, the first book I've ever read to be published exclusively in electronic format. It's very different from his Jonathan Quinn novels, about an international hit man (although those are great, and you should read them). SICK is an apocalyptic thriller set in the near future.

Army officer Daniel Ash wakes up one morning to find his wife dead and his daughter critically ill, victims of a mysterious sudden sickness that has overtaken his whole small installation. Ash, inexplicably, seems immune. These things aren't accidents. SICK is a breathless, nonstop chase-and-race thriller that reminded me of the opening chapters of Stephen King's THE STAND. Its subtitle is "A Project Eden Thriller," and without giving anything away, its ending makes clear that Ash's fight is just starting. It's available from both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Brett agreed to answer Five Random Questions for the blog.

1. Disneyland or Disney World, and what's your favorite ride?

Disneyland, since I’ve been going there regularly since I was five. And favorite ride? When I was young my favorite wasn’t actually a ride, it was the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. I LOVED exploring that, but it’s gone now, or rather redone and renamed Tarzan’s Treehouse. UGH! These days? Anything but A Small World. I hate that ride!

2. What was the first record you ever bought?

GRAND ILLUSION by Styx.

3. What was your first paying job? ("Paying" as in "got a check," not cash for mowing lawns.)

McDonald's.

4. Who's your favorite James Bond?

I’ve always been partial to Sean Connery, but I gotta say Daniel Craig has become my new favorite.

5. Do you know any poems by heart?

How much wood can an woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood...wait, that’s not a poem, is it?