[Ivan]

[Ivan]

I have another question, i read some of the other post by other people and you said you write what you want to write right? But what if you want to write something awsome and you are struggleing to turn it into a over the top novel.

My most popular book used to be I WANT TO GOHOME, which is the 4th book I ever wrote. But now RESTART has outsold it, and seems to be on everyone's list.                                                                            --GK--

[Raymond Jardine]

Ivan's really good question inspires a seemingly unrelated one with a follow-up that ties them together.

So, the question: Do you regularly write (or have you ever written) books out of their order of publication? For example, did you finish writing the Slapshots series before starting the Nose Pickers series, even though the first Nose Pickers book went to press before the final two Slapshots books? 

And the arcane follow-up: Did something like that happen with Bugs Potter and I Want to Go Home? My understanding of the publication timeline of your books is:

  1 - This Can't Be Happening (1978)
  2 - Go Jump in the Pool (1979)
  3 - Beware the Fish (1980)
  4 - Who Is Bugs Potter? (1980)
  5 - I Want to Go Home (1981)

I recall you've said "Bugs" was a marathon writing effort. Did it come after Rudy and Mike were already penned?

Hi, Raymond & Ivan,

The only writing I've ever done out of order is when the new book I'm working on gets interrupted by a previous book that needs some attention, like a small rewrite. Then I have to put aside the new book to complete work on the older one. But nothing gets published out of order. I've had 2 publishers for some years now, and they have schedules to keep.  

As for Bugs being a marathon write, I could have been talking about a different Bugs, an out-of-print effort called BUGS POTTER LIVE AT NICKANINNY, a rather tedious comedy that I thought was really funny, but turned out to be merely

lo-o-o-ong. It came out in 1983, which put it well after Rudy and Mike.

What I'm trying to say (and you'd think I could do it better!) was that yes, books interrupted each other all the time, but nothing stayed in the can while the book after it hit publication. They came out in an orderly fashion.            ---Gord---

[Darren]

No need to diss Nickaninny, Gord. I loved that book! The two Bugs books are my personal favourites of your early period. Of course they were well-written and entertaining but there were other details that spoke to me on a personal level.

You're being kind, Darren. But thanks.                                                                 --GK--

[Raymond Jardine]

Good info on writing and publication timelines/process, thanks GRK!

I'm with Darren on NICKANINNY. Books don't have to win literary awards to be meaningful. 

That's even kinder! Awwwww!                                                                                    --G--