Hi again, De’Avion,
I’ll try to answer your questions:
I’ve told this story so often that I thought everyone knew it. I got started writing in 7th grade in answer to an English assignment to write what our teacher called “a novelette.” I got carried away and quite accidentally wrote a story of over 100 pages, which I called “Bruno & Boots.” I wrote in longhand, but my Mom typed it, and we sent it to Scholastic’s Canadian office. They liked it, published it, and that was some 90 books ago. I was 12 when I wrote it, and 14 by the time it was published.
SO — my career didn’t have to “pick up,” as you phrase it. Because I got a lot of publicity for being so young, I was the author of a bestseller almost at once. And I’ve done well ever since, even making the New York Times Bestseller List at #1! Big time thrill!
You talk about running out of time, but you never told me your age. Did I suffer from lack of drive? Sometimes. I had my teen years to go through, and that’s several years of eating, sleeping, and doing as I pleased — and it didn’t please me to do much work. But I always managed to write a book per year, and sometimes more than that. (I’m 53, not 90!)
Look at it this way: you can be a stockbroker, or a plumber, and write in your spare time if it works out that way. Nothing you do involves giving up writing. And good luck to you! I hope to be writing you a fan letter one day!
Onward and upward!
—-Gordon Korman—-