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First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My name is Jen, and I’ll be your server today…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.
Thanks, Jen. It’s nice to be here. I’m glad you’re running this site; giving teens a chance to read reviews by their peers, and giving other teens an opportunity to review books.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?
My father was an English teacher, so I grew up reading a lot and writing a little. I never really considered “being a writer,” and in a sense I still don’t consider myself a professional writer. I’m a husband and a father first. I’m a historian by education. I’ve done a whole lot of different jobs, from farming to loading UPS trucks to designing computer systems.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
As a grad student in history, I wanted to learn to write for the public (not just articles for professional history journals). I took a creative writing workshop taught by Terry Davis. He wrote the bestseller Vision Quest and a couple of other novels. He gave me a lot of advice and encouragement. Basically, told me my stuff was good and I should keep working on it. My wife, Steph, was also hugely supportive. She was so enthusiastic and excited about the story that I just had to put 100% into it and see it through.
I’m really impatient, and the stories I heard from published writers blew me away. Vision Quest, which was a hugely successful book and movie, was rejected 30 times over a period of three years. Also, my story, Outside the Box, is about teens who reject a lot of the consumerism and bogus authority structures in society. So it was hard for me to imagine publishing it through the traditional, corporate model. Instead, I chose to publish it independently.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
Outside the Box is the story of an alienated teenager who is threatened and challenged by a “demon” from a video game on his Wii. He has a series of adventures, in games and reality. He meets other outcast teens and together they learn to find their own answers and fight for themselves.
The story has cool characters, good action, important social issues, video games, and a little romance in it. If I had to tell readers one thing, I’d say it’s a book about questioning authority and building a new world out of the wreckage you’ve inherited.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
My wife, Steph, and our kids. We’re trying really hard to live “Outside the Box” every day. That creates so much energy that anything’s possible.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Steph has just finished her own kids’ picture book, called Onion Breath, which should be out in a couple of months. We have two teenage daughters, a swimmer and a volleyball star. Both girls have been a great help as readers and story consultants; in addition to helping with their baby brother and sister, who are quite a handful!
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Guacamole: 5 avocados, a small handful of diced red onion, one “bunch” of diced cilantro, juice of half a lime, and a quarter teaspoon of garlic salt.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Make a pot of coffee (okay, it’s at least 50% decaf nowadays),Get the little ones up and fed, Go for a couple-mile morning walk, with our son in a backpack on my back and our daughter in a “front-pack” on Steph. Sometimes the teenagers come along, but they need their sleep.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?
There isn’t a lot of stuff. We try to give away things that we don’t use constantly. So there are no loaded bookshelves or huge CD or DVD collections. Used to be, but not anymore. STUFF weighs you down and limits your mobility.
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
According to my daughter’s new Wii game, Super Paper Mario, I’m a typical male for saying this; but I have to go with red.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Gotta admit, my favorite TV cartoon character is Cartman. Cartoon Network character? Hmm. Maybe Dexter. Comic Book? Batman. Are any of them like me? I hope not! I was thinking Outside the Box might have potential as a graphic novel. Then I could say Reid is a lot like me…
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?
London, right around 1868. It was the biggest city in the world at the time. The richest, and the poorest. The extremes of wealth and starvation were often right up against each other, from one street to the next. People knew something was going to happen, but no one was sure what. There were all kinds of opportunities to be a hero (or a villain). It was very much like the present in a lot of ways.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?
The Arctic Monkeys. Punky British rock with really funny, intelligent lyrics. I usually don’t listen while writing.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?
Don’t watch a lot of TV, aside from Teletubbies and Thomas the Tank Engine with the little ones. I like fast-moving movies, but I haven’t watched one over and over for a long time. Maybe the last one like that was Fight Club. Or V for Vendetta. The last movie I saw in a theater was (I think) Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny. With two babies, you don’t get out much. And we haven’t had a lot of time lately to sit through a DVD, so I’m behind on new releases.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Question all authority. Find your own answers. Stick to them.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
A sequel to Outside the Box called Off the Grid. A “thriller” set partly in Latin America, called Agua. And a three-book biography/historical novel about an Englishman named Charles Bradlaugh, who lived in London during that period that fascinates me in the nineteenth century. The first of that series is called East End Infidel. Those should be completed in the next 18 months. Beyond that, I have some plans for a science fiction series I’ve been thinking about for a few years, but nothing definite.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
Thank you, and keep up the good work!
