Online Interviews
In September 2011, I was interviewed by teen blogger Saambavi Mano about my dystopian novel, All Good Children, before presenting the book at The Word on the Street. Here's an excerpt:
Is your main character, Maxwell Connors, based off of someone you know in real life?
No. He started out as a 12-year-old white kid who loved to skateboard and goof around.... But as I wrote the story, he changed completely and became a 15-year-old black artist who is deeply serious as well as playful. As Max aged, the focus of his story changed from being about family to being about friendship. I have no idea how a character comes to life like that; it’s not like inventing someone, it’s like meeting them. Weird. But wonderful.
What or who is your inspiration when it comes to writing?
This is a very difficult question. Anything in the world can inspire my writing. For me, stories start with a feeling, than an image of the character experiencing that feeling, then the things that happened to cause the character to experience that feeling. That is probably a backwards way of writing, but that’s how it is for me. Almost anything can inspire a story – something from nature, family, friends, books, memories, desires. My kids inspire me a lot.
Why do you choose to write novels for children and young adults?
I used to write stories for adults. But once I had kids, I read so many great books for children and young adults, and I saw how stories come alive for the child listening or reading them, and I wanted to write for young people. My youngest son once exclaimed, when I closed the book we were reading for the night, "But I can’t survive if I don’t know what happens next!" I'd like to make someone feel like that.
In the fall of 2010, I did an interview and guest blog with Teens Read Too. Here's an excerpt:
You have the chance to spend the day with any character from one of your favorite books (not one that you've written). Who would you choose and why?
Ludwig from Lives of the Monster Dogs - because how often do you get to meet a talking dog? Mr. Bones from Timbuktu might as well come, too, and Boxer from Animal Farm, and all the other fictional animals I wish I could have saved.
What is your astrological sign? How closely does it match your personality?
I'm a Capricorn and my life pursuit is to be proud of my achievements. I'm persevering and I will take that first step no matter how long the road. I am loyal. I have an offbeat sense of humor. Oh my god, this is all so me!!! Actually, no, I'm not much of a Capricorn. I'm more anti-wealth than money-hungry. People who know their zodiacs make me pull out my license to prove I'm a goat.
If you could bring any character from one of your books to life, who would it be and why?
I would bring Maxwell Connors to life. He's the hero of my teen novel, All Good Children, coming Fall 2011 from Orca Book Publishers. Max is a fifteen-year-old graffiti artist with a keen but cutting sense of humor. He'd probably make fun of me, but I would suffer through it if he'd write his own sequel.
In early 2011, I did an interview on The Flatt Perspective. Here's an excerpt:
How did you get started in this field?
The first time I took writing seriously was in university when a professor suggested I try to publish a story I'd written for an English elective. It was the first of about a dozen stories I published in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I continued to write sporadically over the years and writing was always a major part of my work for conservation organizations. After reading a thousand picture books to my own son, I tried my hand at writing them.... I now write a mix of picture books, stories, and novels for different ages.
What's the hardest aspect for you in terms of being creative, finding the time? the space? the focus? something else?
Sometimes it's the writing itself that pushes me away. Sometimes a story just isn't ready or isn't working so the writing is frustrating and hard to face. It's a lousy feeling reading back your work and thinking, “This is crap.” It takes a lot of experience and a thick skin to learn to work through the crappy and mediocre pieces and keep faith in your ability to write a really good piece of work. (Give me the strength to file my crappy drafts, the courage to revise my promising ones, and the wisdom to know the difference.)
Why do you keep creating in the face of all this?
I think creating is natural to our species. Our brains are awfully big and our hands are free, after all.
