OK, Jyllian, here are my answers.
1. I’m a football fan. Also, sport can be a diorama of life, and tells a good story. If any of my football-playing characters give up the game, it’s because they realize that life is a whole lot more real than football.
2. I needed Cassandra to be odd enough so that the boys would both be attracted to her and, eventually, almost destroy their friendship over her. Actually, she’s not really SO eccentric. She’s more a free spirit with a love of nature.
3. I would imagine that EVERYTHING in my past influences who I am and the way I write. You’ve really encapsulated the nature of human beings — we are the sum total of everything we used to be and ever were.
4. My key events are pretty much the same as everyone’s — school events growing up, getting my 7th grade English project published when I was 12, pursuing a writing career, college graduation, my wedding, and the birth of each of my children. And the publication of each and every book — and there are over 90 of them now! — is a big thrill.
5. Great question, but I have no answer! If anyone has changed their approach to their own writing because of something I wrote, or a style I use, I really wouldn’t know about it. I’d be flattered, mind you. But I really have no idea what other writers think of my stuff.
6.&7. My writing has matured — I started out as a pre-teen, and now I’m a grown man, a husband, and a father of 3 grown kids. That has to show as a kind of maturity, I hope. I started out wanting to write pure comedy, and I’ve branched into a bit of mystery, and adventure, and even history (the TITANIC trilogy.) I’m not afraid to tackle sensitive topics. I hope I’m able to write with what my editor calls “heart.” Not only the world around me, but the people around me — my circle of friends, my wife and my kids, and the people I meet on literary tours have all added to the person I am. Are the changes for the better? I guess only my readers can decide that.
How’s that, Jyllian? If there’s anything I missed, or anything else you need to know, you know where to find me — right here!
Regards,
—-Gordon Korman—-