As part of our marketing focus this month, we've talked about making school visits and what an impact they can make in an writer's career. But we haven't discussed how fun, or how zany they can be. To get at that, we asked TBA clients for a favorite question, or story, from the front lines...
My favorite question is "Who's your favorite
character in your book?" I love it because normally I'm the one asking
readers this question, so when they ask me, it takes me a second to answer.
(But I don't think what I say comes as a surprise–my favorite is Miles! He's my
oldest character, and I see a lot of myself in him.)
– Francesca Zappia, author of MADE YOU UP
(Harpercollins/Greenwillow, 2015)
I have been asked the following several times: “Have you
ever murdered anyone?”
– Robin Stevens, author of MURDER IS BAD MANNERS (Simon
& Schuster, 2015)
I once did an author event here in Australia at a local
writing centre. It was very early on in
my career. The blurb for the event had
my photo and the fact I came from Reading, England. One guy, wanted to know why I was writing
under a pseudonym? I told him I
wasn't. He would not have it. He was convinced I was writing under a pen
name. Turns out he thought I was Kate
Winslet! He admitted his mistake by
saying I "didn't have her feet!"
I've never been back to that centre, but it remains the funniest
question I've ever been asked. (And strangest).
– Donna Hosie, author of THE
DEVIL’S INTERN (Holiday House, 2014)
Easy! Some authors get asked what their favorite book is,
where do they get their inspiration from of if they ever write about real
people. But me, I just get asked about
bananas. Or, more to the point why I
don’t like them. It all started a few
years ago when I decided to start a workshop with some dumb facts about myself,
including my personal war against the hideous yellow things that people try and
pass off as fruit. Now, I’m not sure if
it amuses kids that a grown woman might not like bananas or they just can’t be
bothered to think of better questions, but all I know is that whenever I
mention that I don’t like them, that’s all they want to ask me about.
– Amanda
Ashby, author of DEMONOSITY (Penguin, 2013)
A fourth grade boy once asked me, very solemnly, “On a
scale of 1-10, with 10 being extremely difficult, how hard you would say it is
to write a book?” I was touched, because clearly he had thought long and hard
beforehand about how to phrase his question. That or he's just a natural-born
sociologist. Either way, awesome. I told him that for the first few minutes of
plotting, it’s a glorious 2. But most of the time, in the immortal words of
Nigel Tufnel, book writing GOES TO ELEVEN.
– Kathryn (K.E.) Ormsbee, author of
THE WATER AND THE WILD (Chronicle, 2015)
“Do gargoyles
really come alive at night?”
It's my favorite because of how accepting they were ready
to be about the world's magic!
– Mike Revell, author of STONEBIRD (Quercus,
2015)
One of my favorite questions of all time came from a
small (and very active) boy, who asked me,
“Have you ever
told a story about a bear?”
“I have not,” I admitted.
“Can I tell you a story about a bear?” he asked.
“You bet,” I said. I meant, of course, that he should
write his story down. Instead, he proceeded to tell me and his classmates the
following tale:
“One time, my father and my uncle took me camping. After
they fell asleep, I decided that I really wanted to see a bear so I snuck out
of the tent, went to the car, and took out a bag of Hershey Bars. I unwrapped
the candy, and then laid it all out in a circle around our tent because I know
that bears like Hershey Bars. Sure
enough, later that night I heard a snuffling sound. I opened the tent flap, and looked
outside. And you know what? There’s something nobody ever tells you about
bears. But I’m going to tell you. Bears are REALLY BIG! And that’s why… I PEED MY PANTS!
“I tried to wake up my Dad and my uncle, but they’d had a
couple beers. Nobody was awake but
me. AND THE BEAR! So I went and hid in my sleeping bag and fell
asleep.
“The next morning when we woke up, there were Hershey Bar
wrappers everywhere and the bear was gone. My father and my uncle yelled at me
for eating the candy and wetting my pants, but I told them, ‘IT WASN’T ME. IT
WAS THE BEAR!’
“They didn’t believe me.
So that night, after it got dark and they fell asleep, I snuck out and
made the big Hershey Bar circle again.
Sure enough, I heard that snuffling sound. The bear was back! And this time, I woke up my Dad and I woke up
my uncle. They looked outside AND THEY
FREAKED OUT! And I said, ‘I bet you want
to pee your pants now too!’
“And that’s my story about a bear.”
I never know what to expect from a school visit, but I
always know it will be some combination of amazing and terrifying and
unbelievable and good. Because that’s
what kids are. And that’s what writing
is. And by the way, my next book has a
story about a bear.
– Paul Acampora,
author of I KILL THE MOCKINBIRD (Roaring Brook, 2015)
My favorite question of all time is from my very first school visit for Oh. My. Gods., when a sixth grade boy asked, "Why did you write about a girl?"
– Tera Lynn Childs, author of POWERLESS (Sourcebooks, 2015)
I love doing school visits, bookstore events, and
teaching at writers conferences, but my favorite events are teaching workshops
for young writers. These word passionate kids ask questions on par with those I
receive from adults. For example, "How can I make sure my characters'
actions remain consistent through the entire book?" was recently asked of
me by a ten-year-old novelist. I hope,
one day, she'll sign one of her bestsellers for me.
– Heidi Schultz,
author of HOOK’S REVENGE (Hyperion, 2014)
