Hi, Anderson,
Thanks for posting. I’ll try to get to all your questions.
My books have won countless (because I never counted them!) awards. Most of them were State Reading Assn Students’ Choice prizes, but some of my books (there are 91 so far, remember!) have won Library Assn. Awards and some of the bigger honors.
My interests are my family — 1 wife, 3 growing kids. I’m a big football fan. And I enjoy movies, running, and weight training.
I’m most proud of my family and the accomplishments of my kids who are 18, 15, and 12. And yes, I’m proud of the body of work that I’ve put out. Some of my books have made me very pleased with myself! Notably TITANIC, EVEREST, and MASTERMINDS.
Advice for young writers: read a lot, and write a lot. Those two activities help you develop a fluency with language. And if you write smoothly, chances are that what you write will read smoothly too. And ALWAYS plan your story before you set down a single word. Planning is everything. You can’t say anything properly unless you know exactly what you want to say. And you can’t know that unless you plan it first.
I read everything, prefer authors like Kurt Vonnegut or Joseph Heller, but loved THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams. Don’t miss that one!
OK? I hope that’s helpful, Anderson. Thanks again for thinking of me. Good luck with your project.
—-Gordon Korman—-