Interview with Gary Paulsen

Gary Paulsen at Random House

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 toda…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, I’d like a diet coke and…oh wait, I’ll get it myself.

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?

When I was a puppy in the kennels. Oh, wait, that’s the answer to another question. The idea came to me when I was in my 20s and working in aerospace. I pushed back from the work station, turned in my top secret crypto badge and drove to Hollywood to meet writers and learn. It was that sudden. I’ve spent more time ordering breakfast than I did deciding to become an author.

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

Bumpy. At one point I didn’t sell a word for 7 years.

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?

I’ve got a book that just came out last week, Woods Runner, and one that’s coming out this spring, Lawn Boy Returns. Woods Runner is about a kid caught up in the madness of war, the Revolutionary War, and how he has to save his kidnapped parents, in part through his knowledge of the wilderness. Lawn Boy Returns is, pretty obviously, the sequel to Lawn Boy; the kid who got filthy stinking rich mowing lawns is now a tycoon—a very stressed out teenage tycoon.

What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?

Personal inspection at zero altitude. I write about what I know or what I study. I’m most inspired by the dance of words on the page. When I’m working hard and it’s going right, the hair on the back of my neck lifts and it’s not like work at all, it’s like dancing or flying or running dogs or sailing, just…zip and I’m gone, lost to the page.

Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!

They’re artists. My wife is a painter and my son sculpts. I’m not sure thrilled is the word. They spent a lot of years with me before the whole publishing thing started working. Maybe relieved or surprised.

Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?

Soft molasses cookies like my grandmother made when I was little.

What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?

I meditate and drink tea while I take a hot bath. Unless I’m on the boat in which case I check to see that everyone in the crew is still alive and we’re not taking on water. Or I’m in the kennels, where I feed dogs and inspect paws and clean poop.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

That I can always find everything I need in the midst of what most people would call a complete mess.

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?

Blue like the sea—which is all colors all at once.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

The coyote in the Road Runner, he’s just so much like my life. Wait, is that an anvil I see?

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Probably the Road Runner again. You’ve got to feel for him.

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?

I’m reading the Patrick O’Brian books about Captain Aubrey and I’d have liked to sail with him, even though he’s fictional. I’ve read the entire series maybe 5 or 6 times now to study the way O’Brian writes and also the nautical information, both of which amaze me.

So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

I can’t listen to music with words when I write, sometimes I listen to classical music when I work, but not always. I don’t usually have the radio on or my iPod playing; at times, but not much because then I pay attention to the music and not what I’m doing.

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?

The Big Bang Theory—Sheldon’s outlook on life makes me laugh. I’ve watched Master and Commander, the Russell Crowe film that was adapted from one of O’Brian’s books, many times. The last movie I saw in the theater was Up In The Air, which was, I thought, really well done.

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

Read like a wolf eats.

One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?

I’m working on a collection of pieces about a kid named Henry Mosely who gets into death-defying adventurous catastrophes with his buddies, and another couple of books about a kid named Kevin who just keeps getting everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, wrong. He’s a smart aleck who thinks he knows just about everything about just about everything and couldn’t be more wrong.

Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!