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Oh, Jade,

How come your questions are harder than anyone else’s? I’ll do my best with them:

1. I don’t know if it’s the funniest, but the tuba scene in RESTART is one I’m really proud of. And I remember laughing like crazy while I was writing it. Plus the small tricycle scene early in “Superteacher.”

2. Funniest joke. I don’t really write jokes. Like, I don’t think there are any one-liners in my stuff. I’m more a scene writer.

3. Weird and obscure inspiration: Learning about the pet chicken they studied in a school I visited. They were doing the food chain, and when it came time to turn the chicken into meat and have each kid taste her, they revolted and refused. It was the inspiration for Henrietta in THE CHICKEN DOESN’T SKATE.

4. Random idea that turned into a novel: A family of con artists turned into FAKER which was, yes, I know, too short.

5. The book that took longer and cost me more energy than expected was my first effort at a trilogy: ISLAND. I had trouble dividing the story into 3 more or less equal parts.

6. Easier than I thought it would be: The second book of ISLAND. The characters were all there, and the story was already planned. Book 3 went fast too. I loved the trilogies.

7. The best part of my job is seeing the finished product for the first time. I’m about to be the Dad of Book # 105, but it never gets old. I also enjoy hearing from my readers — you might have known that!

8. Until I started writing books, I never wrote anything except creative spelling sentences to amuse my teacher. I don’t think my writing was really bad, although I cringe at one column I did for my Mom’s newspaper one week when I was 13. I thought it was so sophisticated, but it was just dumb.

9. I write what I want, but of course I have to think about the market.

10. I don’t speak any languages other than English, so it’s not likely I’d be writing in them! I do have some French left from my Canadian school days, and I’ve picked up quite a bit of Greek, but not enough to write in that language.

11.It’s not the mystery that I like; it’s being able to craft a story and then spring a solution that will blow the reader away. I don’t love mysteries so much as I love sudden surprises.

12. I manage my time by insisting on a work ethic. I have, at present, 3 publishers. I keep all 3 busy with either manuscripts or proposals at all times. I usually work only on one book at a time, but I often have to pause one to put the finishing touches, or do a small re-write, on another. It’s a business, and I have to treat it as one. But I work every day, close to business hours.

13. I have never felt drained of creativity. I kind of dread the feeling that the day will come when it will catch up with me. But so far, so good.

14. I honestly and truthfully do not get writers’ block, and I don’t believe it truly exists. If a writer is blocked and feels like he’s come up against a brick wall, it means he hasn’t planned well enough before starting to write. I may have to eat those words someday, but again, so far, so good.

15. The tip that revolutionized my writing came fairly early from one of my cherished editors. She asked for “more heart” in a certain scene. I had always believed that I was a comedy writer, and didn’t need to make my characters into real people so long as they were funny. I was wrong, and she was oh so right.

There. I did it. Hoipe those are acceptable replies. If there’s more, you know where to find me.                       –G–